Surviving the Impossible
by Horsehugger626
Summary: Noelle is a medic aboard a spaceship, the USG Ishimura, three weeks after the outbreak of the necromorph infection. With the surviving crew holed up in a section of the ship with food running low and the death toll rising, she and the others must find a way to escape. But Noelle and her fellow crew members soon learn necromorphs aren't the only things roaming the bloodied halls.
1. The Plan

**Author's Note: **Hi everyone. This is my first ever fan fiction. I know its not about a very popular fiction universe, it being a video game, but I hope you like it anyway. This chapter is rated for teens because of language, a bit of terror, blood, and gore, and a few sexual innuendos. Later chapter may be a bit worse but nothing a mature teen couldn't handle. Spread the word if you like it since "Dead Space" is a rarely written for or read section. Happy reading!

**Chapter 1**

_Today is a new day._ Noelle told herself this several times. She stood in front of an improvised mirror, a flat piece of metal, and tried to fix her mussed bed-head hair. Having no brush she ran her fingers through her dark, chocolate brown hair and blinked the sleep from her eyes, a brown to match her locks. She had slept in the armored engineer suit she had dawned nearly three weeks ago. That was when the horror of all horrors had unfathomably crept upon the USG Ishimura- the Infection. It turned people to insane psychopaths who assaulted and killed without warning, then turned bodies into reanimated monsters that did nothing but kill and create more of themselves. They swarmed the ship, traversing every hall, occupying every room. Only Noelle and a small group of three hundred had managed to survive.

They now lived in the concert hall of the ship, having secured it with blocks in the vents and guards at the sealed doors. Noelle shared her room with several others, but she was alone for the moment as she stared at her twin in the mirror. She was a few inches over five feet, but her boots gave her an extra half inch or so. She eyed her flat stomach, long tough legs, hourglass shape, all the way up to her small shoulders and clean face. Many would have called her beautiful, but looks seemed like such a ridiculous thing to consider now. She looked at herself critically, feeling insignificant compared to the task at hand. As the commander of the guard team, one of the few medics left, and second in command overall. Having to keep everyone safe and at least alive was her main goal. George was her only superior, but he rarely used his authority as a tool to push his ideas and orders.

She sighed heavily. Hunger made her stomach silently ring with its emptiness, reminding her she hadn't eaten in several days. Food was now a luxury and with it came the necessity to go looking for it outside the relative safety of their secured area. As leader of the guard team she had to lead her team out to look for food on a regular basis, always risking their lives as they dodged and fought the monsters that lurked throughout the ship. She tightened the straps that held the armor to the front of her thighs and lower legs. She then pulled down the sleeves of her spandex-like suit that had hiked up her arms while she had slept and buckled the metal guards along her shoulders and arms. She shifted her spine under the RIG attached to her back with straps crisscrossing along her ribs. She could see from behind her the blue glow of the health bar that ran the length of the RIG, stopping at the small of her back.

_Today is a new day._ She told herself yet again. _Too bad._

"Hey, Noelle. Got a minute?" Noelle turned to see who had spoken and saw Jared standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame.

"Sure. Somebody hurt?"

"No, well, nobody new," the tall, muscled blond man of twenty-five took his weight off the frame and took a few steps in, "But I'm concerned about a few things. I scanned the hydroponics section and all power has been lost to it."

"Great, so the plants are dead and we're out of food," she sighed with frustration.

"That and…well," she noticed he couldn't meet her eyes, "Without the plants oxygen levels will start fall soon."

"Shit." He handed her a data log with information and calculations on it, more than likely put together by their very own tech wizard number two, Merrilee. She was also Jared's long-time girlfriend.

"I know. The only thing we can hope for now is going through the vending machines in the halls."

"Any more news with getting communications up?"

"Not really," he grinned her favorite sheepish smile, but it quickly disappeared, "Something screwed up the signals and receivers so badly there's no way it'll be ready anytime soon."

Noelle chuckled a bit and picked up her plasma cutter and antique sword. The two, one a weapon and one a tool, many centuries apart, looked odd next to one another. "So even the great tech wizard admits he can't fix something. Dear God, I'm surprised the universe hasn't folded in on itself yet."

"Very funny," he laughed then looked pointedly at the sword in her hand as she sheathed it, "Why do you carry that old thing around. It's steel instead of a force blade. Reminds me of something my great grandfather would have used."

"Hey, don't rag on my blade," she playfully shoved him aside as she headed for the door, "It's better than your crappy force blades."

"How so?" he followed beside her as they walked from the makeup room that served as a bedroom and into the main area.

"Well, for one, it doesn't need a power source." Jared took her remark with another laugh. They walked onto the stage of the concert hall, careful to walk around the many people laid on it who were too hurt or sick to move. As a medical officer, Noelle worked to keep them alive and comfortable in the hopes rescue would come and then take over their care. She could hear the groans of the people in pain and her heart clenched in sympathy. She focused her eyes on Nicole, another medical officer who stood across the stae, in hopes of a distraction from the sadness around her. Looking at the blonde only opened another emotional wound. She had a connection with a loved one she feared for.

Noelle's uncle was an engineer. He had had a serious relationship with Nicole, but the two had parted ways. He left the Ishimura for other work, but news had spread that a team had come to repair the ship, after the request for technical help was sent, and that Isaac Clarke was alone on the ship. Noelle could only feel dread now when she thought of her uncle. She hadn't been home in almost a year and could only talk with her parents via a video link. Isaac was her only family connection away from her home, Earth. They were close, had been since she was little, and she knew she had to find him.

"Hey Nicole," Noelle stopped in front of her and knelt down next to the man she was attending to, "How are you?"

"Oh fine," They both could feel the awkwardness of the otherwise normal exchange of niceties, "William here, not so much." The man groaned and opened his eyes to look first at Nicole, then at Noelle. He had large gashes across his chest and shoulders. _Probably attacked by a Slasher._ She noted mentally.

"William?" Noelle lowered her voice so she wouldn't startle the groggy man, "How're you feeling?"

The middle aged man weakly smiled, let out a whisper that barely resembled a "fine", then closed his eyes and fell asleep again. Noelle knew William. He had broken his arm while mining in the colony and she treated him. Even though he had been in agony he grinned and joked his way through the whole ordeal. She had great respect for him.

"That's Will for you," Noelle nearly laughed, "Too positive for his own good."

"You knew him?"

"He came in with a busted arm. He's got a personality you can't forget easily." Nicole gave an understanding nod and smile. She put her hands on her knees to steady herself as she stood up, "We better get to work." Noelle stood and followed in silent agreement. They spent the next several hours looking over each person, treating wounds the best they could, giving them the last bit of food that was available, and performed the horrible task of carrying out those who had passed away since the last time they were checked.

Noelle did not usually chit chat with Nicole, but when she did they often shared stories of Isaac, trying to assure one another that he was fine and would probably find them soon. Noelle had little else in common with her, and any other form of conversation felt forced. After everything that could be done was, Noelle went off to look for Jared, feeling bad that she had forgotten to say goodbye before she went to work.

She had been so focused on her tasks she had hardly noticed the many people up on their feet, stacking and organizing supplies, pacing in thought, or simply standing in shock. Not everyone was mentally fit to fight for their lives for three weeks. Many slept on the seats throughout the theater, some had even broken off the armrests to allow themselves more room to stretch out. She walked towards one of the secured doors that led to the outside halls. Jerry, a man in his early forties and their unofficial explosives expert, sat on the floor with his gun in his lap and his head in his hand. Anyone else would have thought he was napping on the job, but Noelle knew better.

"Hey, Noe," Jerry looked up wearily, having heard her approach clearly, "We going on a little food hunt today?" Noelle could see the desperate need for sleep in his eyes, feeling his fatigue as her own.

"Are you sure you're up for it?" she asked but anticipated the answer, "You know you need to get some sleep. We don't need to be dragging your ass around when you pass out." She smirked and it provoked a grin from the soldier before her.

"I'm fine," he stood and stretched with a grunt as if to prove his statement, "When are we going?"

"Soon. Jared told me the plants in the hydroponics sections is shut down. Putting it simply, we don't have anymore food that's harvestable from it and oxygen levels are going to start dropping, then plummeting." Noelle watched his face grow serious.

"How long do we have?"

"By Merrilee's calculations we have about a week." She watched him shift from foot to foot nervously as he turned from her and cursed.

"Don't tell anyone yet. I'm going to find Jared and we're having a meeting in five," she put a hand on his shoulder to turn him back towards her, "Sorry, I'm not the best person to be giving out bad news."

He placed a hand on her shoulder as well to mirror her, and a smile returned to Jerry's face, even warmer than before, "I wouldn't have a friend like you any other way. You put on your soldier face and you give it to 'em blunt. And you can be careful and nice. The difference is that you can use both when you need to." That was Jerry for her. He was like her substitute father.

"Thanks Jerry," She started to walk away and turned back as she did so. She put on her best joking face and used her teasing tone to say, "And get some sleep. That's an order!" She kept walking away and laughed to herself as he gave her a mock salute and chuckled to himself.

_Okay, find Jared. _She forced herself to focus on the immediate task at hand instead of thinking about having to go hunting for food again. Regardless of the equipment them carried, the number of soldiers they had, or the amount of time she had to pump herself up, the thought of going out of the secured room they had and into the infested halls beyond was horrifying. Noelle sighed with relief when she spotted the trademark slouched stance of her friend. He was talking with a woman, the name of whom she couldn't recall, pointing to various lines of text and numbers on a holographic display. She stood several paces away until he was finished and the woman walked away.

"So, what are we doing later?" She gave him a suggestive look. Jared rolled his eyes at her pseudo-sexual comment, closed the display, and said in an equally 'sexy' voice, "Sounds like you want some excitement."

"Oh, you know me," She leaned her weight on his side and dramatically laid her head on his shoulder, "I just _live_ for risking my life by going out to look for food on a ship infested by zombies on steroids."

"Glad to know I'm not the only one that gets off on being chased by something that will most likely kill you." He turned his face to hers with the grin he seemed to always wear, yet it never failed to make her feel better.

She stood on her own and walked over to sit on a large metal crate, "We're getting the team together in a few minutes for a meeting. You game for a round of cat and mouse?"

"Well, we better get going soon," he patted her back in the direction of their improvised meeting room, "Early bird gets the worm."

She sighed but smiled, "Yeah, but the second mouse gets the cheese." They both laughed quietly as they walked.

A few minutes later Noelle sat on a chair at the head of a table with Jared and Merrilee on either side of her. Ten other soldiers, men and women, of various ages and races sat around the table. Noelle could feel the tension throughout the group, even as they chatted casually. Her best friend, Merrilee, was at her side trying to distract Noelle from her worries, but the topics of their conversations were hit and miss in keeping her attention.

"Noe?"

"Hmmm?" Noelle was lost in thought. She hated herself for planning to drag her soldiers back into those halls of horror, putting their lives in danger. It felt like a cruelty.

"Noelle?"

"Yeah?" Noelle was finally broken from her revere and gave Merrilee an apologetic look, "Sorry Merr. Just got a lot on my mind."

"It's okay, love," her thick British accent made her hard to ignore among so many Americans, "I know you're stressed. We all are, but if you keep worrying something will happen to us you're going to go freakin' insane. I know being the leader of the team is tough, but you have to give yourself some slack. It's not your fault when people get hurt."

"It's not that easy. I make the decisions. If I make a bad call and someone is lost or killed… that's on me. Not them. But thanks for trying to cheer me up." Noelle gave her a weak smile for her efforts.

"Anytime, Noe." They shared a quick hug and parted as George strode into the room. A hush fell over the group as their highest leader, a tall lean man of about thirty-five, walked over and sat down in a chair near Noelle, Jared, and Merrilee. He was tall, well-built, and walked with a slight limp. It was a constant reminder of his years in the army. His dark hair shone in the dim lighting and his blue eyes seemed to glow despite the darkness.

"Alright guys," the silence was profound as his deep voice rang out, "Looks like we're going out again. Because we can no longer rely on the hydroponics section, being that it's shut down, we now have no other option but to search the ship for small stores, vending machines, anything we can break into and get supplies from. As usual, Noelle and I will lead with Jared and Merrilee second in command. Do not, I repeat, _do not_ split up for any reason. If any of you do and I find out, the necromorphs may not get you but I sure will."

The hard look in George's eyes that grew as he warned the team softened, then disappeared as he looked them over and sighed. He looked to Jared and said, "What do you have on the stores and vending machines in the area?"

Jared pulled up a display that showed an overhead view of the corridors, "There are a few vending machines in the area and one or two stores, but that's pushing the boundaries. We can hit two vendings that would get us close to the nearest store but it's blocked by a locked door and I have no idea what's behind it. We've weeded out a lot of those bastards from the immediate area, but closed off rooms are a wild card we don't want to deal with."

Noelle watched as he whirled in his chair as he spoke and pointed at dots on the map, "Our best bet is to hit the nearest machines and get back a-sap."

"Sounds good," George put his gun in its holster and tightened the straps on his RIG and armor. This a loud clap of his hands he concluded, "Let's get moving!"

**Author's Note:**Hi everyone! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of the story. I know the start is a bit slow but I promise it will pick up in the next chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated. I'm in school right now so don't expect weekly updates. It will take me and average of about 2-3 weeks to get a chapter up depending on how long it is and how much time I have so please do **not **leave reviews about my update speed. Hope you enjoy and happy reading!


	2. An Encounter

**Author's Note:** Hey everyone! Hope you liked the last chapter. As promised this chapter will have much more drama. And who doesn't like drama? Happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Jared punched in the security code to the outside door, locking out anything that might want to get in, including themselves. Noelle stood near George and Merrilee who were placed at the head of the team. The blood covered walls and flickering lights told a story she didn't want to hear. The creaking of the walls around her made it sound as if the ship was echoing the moans and sadness of those trapped in it. Despite the others around her, fear threatened to overwhelm her. Soldier was not her profession, but she had been thrown into it nevertheless.

"Let's go guys," Noelle raised her voice loud enough for everyone to hear, yet quiet enough to keep unwanted company from responding. The nervous group began to make their way down the corridors with George as their guide.

Noelle slowed down her pace to match hers with Jared and Merrilee's. The quiet around them choked off anything she wanted to say, until she forced herself to ignore it. "So what's the real reason you don't want us going to that store?" Noelle lowered her voice so only Jared and Merrilee would hear. The padding of the feet around them was just loud enough to drown her out.

Jared gave her his usual grin and said with fake shock, "You don't believe what I said?"

"Of course she didn't," Merrilee bumped him with her elbow playfully, "You suck at lying to people who know you."

"So what's _really_ wrong?" Noelle looked at him directly in the eyes so he knew she was being serious.

"Well," he sighed and his breath shook with tension, "We've been getting weird communication signals around those halls."

"You mean signals between handheld communicators?"

"Yeah," Merrilee peered around Jared's side to look at Noelle, whose was on his other side, as she spoke, "Those kind and signals that have been leaving the ship."

"Oh my God!" Noelle was blown away, "You mean the source is communicating with another receiver?" Both nodded carefully. They were obviously as disturbed by the information as she was. It could be rescue, but then again… it might not.

"What do the signals contain? Video, audio, what?"

"Audio," Jared looked around himself to make sure no one was eavesdropping, "It sounds like voices, and when it's clearer than usual we can make out individual voices, but I don't recognize the language."

"How long have you known?"

"Only a day or two," he couldn't seem to hold back a grimace, "I wanted to tell you but we didn't want to spread hope. It might just be a glitch, some kind of anomaly. A piece of equipment back their might have stored files that it's messing with, hence the 'unknown language', and then sending them out at random."

Noelle gave him her grin, "Is that the story you're going to give everyone if they find out? Because you and I both know that your theory can't be right. If you know the signals are being received and sent, something more intelligent than a faulty piece of equipment would have to be the cause."

"Sorry," he bowed his head a bit but stilled smiled, "I shouldn't lie to you guys."

"What do you mean 'you guys'?" Merrilee said teasingly, "You can't pull that shit on me."

"Apparently not with Noelle either." Jared replied. Noelle was reminded of the cold as they laughed and their breath flowed visibly from their open mouths like smoke, yet she felt warmer with the lighter mood. Unfortunately, after several minutes the fear and alertness of the situation demanded overshadowed the lightheartedness they had fought so hard to gain.

Even after they reached the first vending machine the edginess never decreased. Guns with mounted flashlights twitched and jerked at the slightest noise or flash of shadow. Feet scuffled and suit material rubbed together as the group stood in a circle around Merrilee and Jared as they tried to crack the machine open without setting off its alarm. Such a noise would draw very unwanted attention.

Many of the soldiers, including Noelle herself, jumped at the sudden sound of the locks of the machine releasing with a strong _ka-chick_. Noelle pointed her light down the halls as she listened to the soft scraping of the packages of food being dropped in a pack. She made a mental note, using the individual sounds of the packages dropping in, of how much the machine held and calculated in her head how long it would sustain the number of people they had. _About a day per machine if it's about full and we cut rations thin._

The pack was sealed and the guards jumped again as the door to the machine was closed. They were on the move soon after, had hit another machine, and were on their third when Noelle glanced at the display map Jared held. The blue dot that represented the supply store was only a few corridors away from the red dot that served as the team's representative. The two sides of her conscious jumped into argument so fast it made her head spin. To abandon her group at her own risk to satisfy her curiosity and also risk George's trust in her or sit back and watch her people starve and miss a chance to be rescued was the cruelest puzzle the ship had thrown at her so far. _God, you're testing me today,_ she said quietly in her head, _Shit! What do I do?  
_

Silence resounded in her ears but a calmness came over her as she waited for an answer. It eventually came in the form of a vicious Slasher that rounded the corner. It charged the group and Noelle raised her gun and fired first, taking off a large bladed arm. It stood no chance alone against the group. As it fell to the floor Noelle took the opportunity, too perfect to be coincidental, to turn the opposite corner and make a dash. She scooted down a long hall intersected every several feet.

Noelle edged down the hall and could hear the voices of her team fading. She rounded another corner and gazed down a long hallway, stretching so far that her high power flashlight could not light up its end. She looked to the right and could see archways leading to unknown places at regular intervals about fifty feet apart. None were the door she was looking for that would tell her she was in the right hallway. She shone her light on the left side wall and was pleased to find the large door standing only one hundred feet away, directly opposite the second archway on the right side.

She looked behind her out of habit and startled at the sight of a man lying on the floor, his entire head wrapped up in cloth and a bloody gunshot wound upon the forehead. Noelle immediately recognized the self-execution of the religious fanatic. She was a Roman Catholic, not a traditional one by any stretch of the imagination, and her beliefs starkly clashed with this strange Unitologist's, yet she nearly cried at the sight of this fallen fellow human being. After bowing her head and silently paying her respects as she did with everybody she came across she refocused her mind.

Seeing no threat behind her, Noelle turned back around and crept down the hall towards her goal. As she neared the first archway she shone her light down it. It led to an empty office. _Must be where all the senators who snagged a ticket for the ship worked,_ she thought. She stayed close to the right wall and walked farther. The second archway was only twenty feet away when the quiet murmur of voices reached her ears. Assuming it was her team looking for her, she wheeled around, but no one was there. The sounds were close enough that if they were from behind her she would have been able to locate the source.

The voices faded a bit as the blood rushed past her ears and her heart sped up dramatically. She played with the idea that the military had finally heard their distress signal and entered the ship to rescue them. Noelle quickly pushed the idea out of her mind, not willing to allow herself the hope that would almost surely lead to horrible disappointment. Her footsteps were even more silent than before. Weeks of walking the halls had forced her to train her feet in the art of keeping sound to a minimum. She pressed her shoulder to the right wall and made her way, inch by inch, towards the second archway. When she was only a foot away she pressed her cheek to the wall and carefully, inched forward until her nose was nearly past the corner. Many voices, male and female, in an odd language wafted from the room past the archway. She didn't recognize the language, but it had a flowing and smooth quality that made it nice to listen to. Two voices stuck out prominently amongst the whirlwind of voices. In English and both male, they spoke as if in the middle of an argument.

"We need to hurry up and make contact with them before it's too late," a male voice from around the corner said, "If we wait too long they won't survive. We have to help them out now."

"But what if they react violently?" it was another male voice but it sounded higher and nervous, "For all we know they could try to kill us. Their track record with foreigners isn't exactly spotless." It sounded as if the conversation had been going on for a while before she had come along.

"So we just let them die?" It was the first male voice, stronger, firm, and attractive, but not angry, "We didn't come all this way then board the ship to sit around and watch them be picked off one by one by those monsters."

"Why are we speaking like this?" the higher male voice sounded annoyed now, "This language is so… odd. Bordering on the ridiculous."

"It's a beautiful language," the first voice sounded slightly irritated, "Do you expect them to know our own? Also, you need practice."

"Well, I need a break. It's tedious and mind numbing."

"Fine," the tone was still a bit exasperated, but agreeing. "None of the crew is around so we won't scare them."

"We would scare them anyway." High voice muttered. The voices continued in the same language as the others and melded into the others. Curious overtaking her better judgment, Noelle silently turned her nose towards the wall and allowed her left eye to peer past the corner.

The sight made her heart stop then restart a hundred times faster. She was barely able to hold back the gasp and scream dying to escape her mouth. The room was identical to the one before, except it wasn't unoccupied. They looked almost human, yet they had to be necromorphs her mind told her. Slashers to be precise. So much information at once made her head whirl and it took Noelle a minute to reorganize her thoughts. The group numbered about ten to fifteen. Their skin was jet black like that of an Enhanced Slasher, a more dangerous Slasher than the ordinary pale breed, but not mottled and rotted like death. It looked smooth and alive; human.

As she looked closer she noticed they were clean, clothed, and stood upright instead of mutated and filthy in a hunched position. They shared the glowing eyes of the E-Slashers, but they had an intelligent look and were not a flat yellow. They ranged from a warm gold to a cool green or blue, all with no whites in them. The shine waning to nothing when they blinked was also a very strange sight, but amazing. They had near-human bodies: two normal arms, two normal legs. Almost everything was uninteresting until she came to the shoulders.

Between their necks and normal arms atop the shoulders stood long, muscled, but slender limbs with the same long blades adorning the ends, just like those of the monsters lurking the halls. These arms were shorter and much less lethal looking. Their noses and ears were slightly more flattened and streamline; the only other feature that made them seem alien.

The difference between the males and females were obvious as well. The bodies were well built and the same as any human man or woman. If she hadn't seen their faces or extra limbs she would surely say they were human. The women had long, thin hair as pitch as their skin and it gleamed slightly in the faint light like sunlight reflecting off a smooth waterfall. The men had no hair on their heads, completely bald and smooth. Both genders had white teeth, same shape and size as a human's, which stood out next to their black skin as they spoke and even occasionally smiled. _Wow,_ was all her dumbfounded mind could produce.

The foreign uniforms caught her eye as well. As they milled about the small room, attending different pieces of equipment, she saw they all had on nearly the same uniforms; dark blue and black, skin tight with light armor strapped to key locations. It was like her own uniform complete with a weapon belt, save for a RIG and the color. One, a tall male with dark blue eyes, wore a uniform that broke the mold. A large white jacket covered him to his hips over the suit, with neat holes for his extra arms. It screamed 'doctor'. He also seemed to be the leader of the group as he called the attention of the others in an odd language. His eyes looked them over and Noelle could see a single darker orb in each eye moving in sync. _Pupils!_ she thought. She stopped breathing when those eyes locked with hers.

"Hey!" The voice sounded like that of a man her age. It sounded pleasantly surprised, rather than the aggression she expected. Noelle suddenly realized how easy she was to spot when she saw her whole head and half her body were in the open archway.

"Are you okay?" He spoke to her again. Noelle breath caught in her throat as all the others in the room turned to look at her. Every muscle in her body locked into place, very differently from the explosive reaction they produced when she had to fight. It shocked her to feel her body react so oddly to something that was obviously a threat. She almost couldn't break the eye contact with those glowing orbs.

Noelle could only watch as he began to walk towards her, his metal boots _clunking_ on the floor as the others around him made room for him. Time seemed to slow as Noelle rapidly weighed her options of what to do, but to only come up with a blank. He was only a few feet away from her with his hand outstretched, as if to reassure her, when a roar erupted from the hall to her left. As soon as the deafening sound reached her ears, like hitting the play button on a stopped video, her muscles went into action. She jumped back from the strange man in front of her, pulled her gun sight up, and turned to face a hulking E-Slasher several feet yards down the hall. It was almost as dark as the hallway with angry yellow eyes and rotting mottled skin.

Firing a few shots, she ran down the hall in a sprint, praying her team had not gotten too far away. The hair on the back of her neck raised as the monster's roar sounded again, but instead of hearing it follow with lumbering steps she looked back to see it being fired at by the alien group in the hall. She didn't stick around to find out what happened.

Noelle dashed down the halls the way she came, feeling the wind created by her movement fling her hair back behind her head. Her boots clattered loudly on the metal floor and her breath came out in the cold air like smoke. The frigid air stung her lungs and made the sprint tiring. After what seemed like hours of running, but was only a minute or two, she spotted the team. She sped up in her relief as she realized she had not only found them but they were heading for the base.

"George! Jared! Merrilee!" Noelle shouted despite the cold ache in her chest from breathing in the cool air more heavily than usual. The whole team whirled around in place to see the commotion. Many aimed their guns then lowered them in shock.

"Noelle!" George walked towards the other end of the group to see her, "Where have you been?"

"I-" She tried to start but George quickly cut her off with a swipe of his hand in the air.

"We'll talk about this when we get back to base." He looked around at the team until she came near and they started walking. He lowered his voice to near a whisper but it was tight and dangerous, "We'll discuss this in my office alone."

Noelle walked towards George's office, also used as the meeting room, dreading the lecture she was about to receive. Her ears hurt just thinking about it. _How could I be so stupid,_ Noelle scolded herself, _If I had just stayed with the group…but then I wouldn't have found those… people. Whatever they are._

She stepped through the doorway and sat down at her usual spot at the long table. George was pacing the floor by the windows with their still portraits of stars shining against a pitch black background; his habit when thoughtful or stressed. He finally stopped and looked up at her as if he had just noticed she was there.

"I have just one question for you," he leaned over and placed his hands on the table, "What the hell were you thinking?"

"George, before you go off on me, let me explain," Noelle took a deep breath knowing he would let her speak, "What did Jared tell you about the odd signals in the ship?"

"He told you too?" His expression softened a bit. She nodded. "What did he tell you?"

"He tried to tell me it was probably just a shitty piece of equipment back there."

"As if you would buy it." George let out a small chuckle at the thought. Noelle sat straight in her chair and almost decided to stand but remained where she was. "What's eating you? I just don't understand why you would disobey orders like that. I can't stay angry for long because I know you wouldn't have done that without a damn good reason. Or at least I hope you have one."

"George, if I told you what I saw you would think I was out of my mind," she leaned back in her chair, losing her nerve, "It still can't wrap my head around it."

"Kid, I've seen and heard too much so far in my life. There is nothing you could tell me that would make me not believe you."

"It's some crazy shit. You sure?"

"We're in some crazy shit now. Lay it on me."

Noelle took in a long breath and leaned forward in her chair to rest her elbows on the table in front of her. She watched George follow her lead, sitting down and almost mirroring her as he leaned on the table as well.

"Wait," he stopped her with a raised hand, "Jared and Merrilee should hear this." Noelle nodded in agreement. George walked out and came back within a few seconds of walking out the door. _So nosy they have to stand right outside the door,_ she thought with a smile. Both her friends sat down on either side of her, the nervousness plain on their faces.

"Why'd you run off, Noelle," Merrilee did not try to hide her fear or anger, but she whispered quietly.

"That's what we're about to discuss," George spoke at regular volume having heard Merrilee, "And whatever is said in this room does not leave this room, unless I say otherwise. Is that understood?" His question was responded to with a simultaneous "Yes, sir". The air seemed to cool even further with the tension, making Noelle shiver slightly. She mentally cursed the person who invented the thin material of her suit and its utter lack of protection from imperfect conditions.

"So, what happened?" George looked her directly in the eyes and she knew there was no way she could, or even would, try to get out of telling the story.

"I went to that area Jared had been talking about," Noelle didn't look at anyone while she talked, but stared out the window at the unmoving stars that dotted the pitch space, "And it wasn't faulty equipment."

"What was it?" Jared's voice sounded tight with fear, even though he tried to hide it.

Noelle didn't pause to create suspense. Only her reluctance to say out loud what had happened caused her to pause. Even in her head the tale she was about to tell seemed like something out of the imagination of a drug user on a bad day. After another deep breath she told them about her walk down the hall, the conversation between the two strange men, the language, their appearance, the blue-eyed one walking towards her, and finally her fleeing from the E-Slasher. Everything. All the while, the trio listening to her was unaware of their widening eyes and dropping jaws.

"Oh my God." Was all Jared could muster after a long silence.

"They look just like us, except for the skin tone, eyes, and extra limbs. The one that talked to me even spoke in English."

"Really?" Merrilee looked ecstatic with interest, "Did he have an accent?"

"Merrilee, this isn't the time to worry about if he has a sexy voice or not." They both laughed but Merrilee countered, "I'm being serious. You heard him speaking in two languages. Did the accent change when he switched?"

"Actually, yes," Noelle was surprised by how that didn't catch her attention earlier, "It was like when someone from another country speaks English with a completely normal American accent and when they say a word that's from their native language they suddenly switch to that other accent. When he spoke English he sounded like us, but when he spoke to the others it sounded really smooth and flowing. It's impossible to describe."

"Sounds amazing." Jared quietly said, to himself or the group Noelle couldn't tell.

"Did you feel threatened?" George looked at her with what seemed like a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"No," her answer came quickly but its explanation was slow and difficult, "I felt more like I didn't know how to respond. As if someone set a puzzle in front of me I had no idea of solving."

"You weren't scared at all?" George looked doubtful.

"Oh, I was really scared," she admitted with a slight blush, "but I think I was more afraid of what they were than what they might have done."

"You said he spoke in English," The hope in his eyes grew, "What did he say to you?"

"He asked me if I was okay. Then he started walking towards me."

"Crazy. But our only hope," George looked truly hopeful now, even if it was cautious, "What do you guys think?"

"About what?" Noelle had no idea what he meant.

"Do you think we should…contact them?" For the first time Noelle could ever remember George seemed unsure of what to do. It didn't surprise her that he was asking their opinion, just that he seemed to leave it completely up to them.

"What do you think, Noelle?" Jared asked.

"Why is it up to me?" Noelle was happy to lead, but this was an enormous decision that could save them or doom them.

"Because you saw them. And you've always had a good sense of people" George's confidence in her boosted her own a bit, "Anyway, they're obviously not necromorphs if they didn't attack you, even if they have a resemblance to them. I'm leaving this up to you, Noelle."

"Well, considering everything," Noelle began nervously, "I think we should proceed with extreme caution. We should see if we can locate them again, but I think we should be armed at all times. They're technology is at least on par with ours considering they were able to get on the ship."

"What about the others?" Merrilee asked, "Should we keep this from them?" They all turned to Noelle for an answer again.

"Well," the pressure was great but she thought about it, "For now I think we should. When we know whether they mean us any harm or not we can inform everyone else."

"Sounds like a plan," George clapped his hands together in a gesture of finality, "Do you want to get the team together, inform them, and head out tomorrow?"

"Sure. We can check the same spot where I found them the first time, but any sign of hostility and we run out of there like the seats of our pants are on fire." Noelle felt proud of her leadership, but she was terrified all at the same time. She couldn't decide whether they should trust the aliens or not. She settled on the idea that only time would tell.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Well, wasn't that exciting! Hope you like the more non-typo updated version. When I reread it I couldn't ignore the numerous typos (which I can't believe I missed) so I _had_ to fix it. It was just my writer's OCD talking, I swear. Reviews are love and happy reading!


	3. We Fight

**Author's Note:** Sorry it took me so long to update. Finals are next week so I've been spending all my time getting ready for them. It will take me a while to get the next chapter up and I apologize that this one is a bit shorter. Hope you liked the last chapter. The ball will really get rolling in chapter four! Happy reading!

**Chapter 3**

Noelle walked out the of the office last. They had called in the team and discussed the news. Her story was met once again with gaping mouths and shocked faces. Her plan was met with no protest or debate, only ideas about what the aliens could want. She walked out last as she watched her team leave one by one. She ran her hand over the scroll bar on the text holographic in the middle of the table. Rereading her statement and the statements of team she was mixed with hope and dread. It made no sense, but she prayed it would soon.

_Oh well_, Noelle thought as she walked out, _Eventually this will have to end one way or another._ She started thinking about how it was going take time to get used to people following her plans directly when a gruff voice caught her attention.

"So what were you and our _overlords_ talking about?" It was Wolfgang, one of the actual soldiers on the ship. More precisely, soldier-in-training. Having read his file she knew he had never passed because of 'self-control issues' and 'chronic insubordination'. 'Overlords' was one of his favorite nicknames for George and his team, Noelle included.

"You know more than anyone that it's none of your business what we discuss." She spoke shortly and stiffly without looking at him. She continued walking as if he hadn't spoken to her but he followed, much to her annoyance.

"Don't pretend like nothing happened while you guys were out," he was nearly next to her when Noelle stopped to whirl around and face him, "I'm not stupid."

"We never said you were. The _majority _of the group, meaning pretty much everyone but you, voted us to take charge."

"How do I know this isn't something political?" His look had a loaded accusation in it, "Or worse. How do I know you guy's didn't have something to do with all this?"

"Finally we get to the center of all the round-a-bout shit you throw," her eyes narrowed and her voice grew hard, "Humoring you for no reason, what in the hell makes you think we specifically started the Infection? Sounds like you just want someone to blame."

"So you think it was the Unitologists?"

"No," she hesitated for a moment, not wanting to tell him too much, "It don't think they started anything. They may be a group of crazies but that doesn't mean they're murderers."

"At least we agree on one thing."

"Not that we should. Where do you get off on giving my team crap for doing their job?"

"Which is what?" he raised his voice near a yell and pointed a finger at her, "To pull the wool over our eyes and screw us over while you feed us some shitty story that you're trying to protect us? We're dying, starving, exhausted, and almost out of options and what do you guys do? Nothing!"

"We just risked our lives by going out and hunting down food in a ship filled with corpses that could kill any of us with just the swing of an arm," she didn't raise her voice and kept it even, "And that's your idea of 'nothing'?"

"All you're looking to do is lure us into thinking we're going to survive this," he lowered his voice a bit, his anger building by a fraction, "And then you're going to let us die!"

"What the hell are you talking about? Even if that was our plan what would be the point? Leading you on would be a waste of time to people looking to kill you."

"If you sick enough to let something like this Infection loose on us you're sick enough to lead us on," his eyes darkened and Noelle grew nervous of his temper, "All you need is enough video and audio logs to prove we survived for a while so it will look like you tried to save us, let us get picked off or die on our own, then claim you're the only ones to make it out alive."

"You're crazy," she started to walk away and looked over her shoulder to say, "And you'll be the death of the us, not the team." As she strode away she could hardly hold in the words that would completely destroy his idea. The fact that aliens were on the ship and seemingly willing to help and that the team planned to accept. It would prove the teams intentions were nothing but good, and that he was just looking for someone to blame for the situation they were in. But she knew she couldn't, which only made her blood boil more.

Noelle tried to calm herself down as she made her way to the room in which she slept, knowing she would never fall asleep if she stayed as upset as she was. She tried to be happy with the fact she didn't have to check the sick and wounded on the stage, since Nicole was taking over for the night. She looked at her watch and the light bounced off the narrow hall she was in. _Dammit, _she thought,_ One o'clock. And I've been up since five this morning. Tomorrow morning is going to be just _fan_-tastic._

Despite the fact that she was going to get little sleep having facing another early morning, she tried to relax. She walked in the large room, stood by her bed, and dropped her weapons to the floor. Her bed was a simple mattress snagged from a room in the first week. It was stained from the journey to the base but was comfortable to sleep on. She sat down on the corner and put her pounding head between her hands. The combination of stress, fear, and cold mixed to form one hell of a headache.

She could hear footsteps coming down the hall and waited as they sounded off the walls in the room. She looked up to see Jared and Merrilee dropping their weapons by their beds. Jared flopped down face first on the mattress while Merrilee sat down next to him. Their's was right next to Noelle's, but she felt like talking was unneeded as well as unwanted.

"You okay, Noelle?" Merrilee asked over the sound of Jared's snores.

"Yeah," she laid back on her thin pillow, "Wolfgang got on me again. Turns out he thinks the team is behind the Infection."

"Doesn't shock me. George already knew that. I'm surprised he hasn't gone after you with that accusation before."

"Oh well," Noelle closed her eyes despite the gut urge not to, "No need to dwell on it."

"Yeah. He's a bloody moron. Pay no mind to him."

"Thanks."

"No problem, girl."

"Good night, Merr."

"Night, Noe."

Noelle tried to let her mind drift into sleep, but every creak was a monster creeping towards her and every beat of her heart threatened to be her last. Her whole body screamed for her to sit up and remain alert, despite the knowledge that she was safe, at least relatively, in the base. Her argument with Wolfgang gave her a bitter, foreboding feeling in the pit of her stomach and it was getting hard to ignore. She knew that it was only a matter of time when his threats turned from only verbal into something more. Her mind slowed as she tired. Eventually the pull on her eyelids outweighed the fear and she reluctantly drifted off into sleep.

"Noelle!" the voice sounded far away. She wasn't sure she had actually heard it until it sounded again, this time closer.

"Noelle, get up!" She jumped up from her bed and whirled around to see Jared and Merrilee standing in front of her mattress. The murmur of worried voices came from down the hall. It sounded like everyone in the base was awake and talking at once.

"What wrong?" her heart jumped when she saw they were already armed and ready to go, "What happened?"

"A necromorph got in," Jared was practically panting, his breath coming out in white puffs, "And we know why."

"Fill me in," she demanded.

"George already took care of it and we're posting a few guards for a few hours," Merrilee explained.

"Okay, but how the hell did it get in?" she was wide awake now, "We have blocks in the vents and the doors are locked. Right?"

"The power dropped suddenly," Jared dropped his head in defeat, "We've hardly got enough to keep the lights on and the power to the door locks are coming and going. If we lose power completely it would be easy for them to pry the door open with the locks completely ineffective."

"God," Noelle rubbed her temples, "So we're either going to be killed or freeze to death."

"What are we going to do?" Merrilee looked at Noelle with the same scared but expectant face the team had given her when looking for her lead. Jared looked defeated, knowing as well as everyone else that contacting help was now out of their reach. It terrified her, but they needed her as much as she needed them. They had supported her when she had lost hope and now was her turn to return the favor. Shoving her fear aside, she pummeled it to a pulp so she could say what she wanted without her voice shaking.

"We fight."

"Pardon?" Merrilee looked confused.

"We fight," Noelle said shortly again, "We fight for all we're worth. Yeah, it looks like we're screwed but who cares. We passed screwed about a mile ago when all this shit started. The halls are filled with frigging zombies with blades and barbs and fangs. The ship is shutting down. We're running out of supplies. All that never stopped us before. What's holding us back and making us give up now? Fight. We do what we've been doing. We dig in our heels, hunker down, grit our teeth, and fight off anything that comes through those doors. We're going to survive." Noelle looked up after her speech to see her entire team standing in the doorway listening. She could feel her face warm with blush and she looked at George for an answer. His face was proud.

"You heard her," he turned to the team, a smile still plastered to his face, "Let's post a few guards at the doors. Everyone else go back to sleep." The team shuffled out of the room quickly, but many looked back at Noelle with looks of pride and respect on their faces. Noelle looked at her watch.

"But George it's five in the morning. Shouldn't we be getting ready to get up by now?"

"No," he was halfway out the door, "We're splitting up the work so we can have guards twenty-four hours now. Everyone's pretty riled up now and I think if we have too many people keeping watch they'll be even more worried. Get some rest. I'll come get you three when we need you." Noelle nodded along with Jared and Merrilee, but it was weak and halfhearted. George patted her on the back as he passed and they shared a small smile. Internally, she beamed. George's praise was few and far between, making it all the more inspiring when she had earned it.

After George left they looked at one another, shrugged helplessly, then went back to bed. Noelle had a considerably hard time falling back asleep after all the excitement. Her hands were shaking slightly so she clasped them together. She unconsciously pulled off her high school class ring and rolled it between her fingers. Her hands grew a mind of their own when she was nervous or bored, the latter being the emotion that drove them now. Her hands were rarely idle being that when she was on Earth, and sometimes on the ship before the Infection, she often sat on her porch or at a large window and painted on canvas with the best oils she could afford. The memory stirred those of the feeling of the breeze running its cool fingers through her hair and across her skin. The chirps of birds and rustle of trees filling her ears. The soothing flow of paint on woven canvas under the brush held expertly in her able hand.

She sighed thoughtfully as she unintentionally lulled herself to sleep with her comforting memories. Noelle's eye was caught by the blue gem in the center of her ring, its color intensified by the lights above her head. Despite being a dark blue the color was warm and comforting, especially now. The past seemed her only escape from her present, which was nothing but terror.

She looked at her ring, realizing she was holding it. The white gold was slightly tarnished from years of daily wear and tear, yet it still looked smooth. The gem in the middle was smudged from her fingers so she wiped it on the thin material of her suit. When she held it up to examine it the dark blue gem shone brightly, despite the dim lighting. The color was considered a winter one yet it never failed to fill her with a warm feeling, like she was arriving home after a long departure. It was her only piece of her Earth home with her… besides Uncle Isaac.

She sighed sadly, trying to push the negative thoughts out of her mind, but she wasn't quick enough. She found herself thinking at length about if her uncle was safe, if she would ever see him again, if the rumors of him being alive were even true. As she tried to sleep, she drifted in and out as nightmares swam through her head. They were like thundering horses that ran across her mind like a shallow pond, causing disturbances and stirring up horrible images like muck that lingered persistently. One overtook another, bringing with it a new theme or dark idea for the endless film reel behind her eyes. She woke frequently and eventually gave up on even the thought of sleep. She looked at her RIG's clock and realized she had only been trying to sleep for two hours.

_Oh, well_, she thought with frustration,_ Looks like I'm still starting my day early._ Noelle pulled on her RIG, locking the straps that went across her ribs and shoulders. She looked over and saw that Merrilee and Jared had somehow managed to fall asleep. She felt happy that at least others weren't as unlucky in that department as her.

She could feel the hollowness in her stomach had grown more pronounced. Her head felt clogged and was throbbing to the beat of her heart as she walked down the hall to the main theatre room. People were already up and moving and just as George had said there were guards posted at every door and every vent. Just as she was eyeing the crowd to make sure she wouldn't run into Wolfgang again Jerry came sprinting up to her.

"Noelle," he sounded breathless, "I was just looking for you in your room. Thank God I found you."

"What's wrong?"

"Nicole needs your help. Will isn't doing so well."

**Author's Note:** I know, I know. I torment my readers with cliffhangers. :) Things are getting interesting now and I promise it will get even crazier next chapter. Also, I apologize for any typos or other misspelled things in my story. Please let me know if you find something that could change the meaning of a sentence so I can fix it. Can't have any confusion. Btw, "Die Erste Nacht" means _The First Night_ in German. Remember, reviews are love!


	4. Darkness Approaches

**Author's Note:** Hello everyone! Thanks for reading and getting this far. I forgot to mention that Noelle is twenty-seven and has been out of college for several years. She was able to start working in a hospital as an intern at 19 (remember it's the future so things are different) and has great experience. Also, just to let the curious know "Die sweiten nacht' means 'the second night' in German. Its just a short theme. Remember, reviews please! Let the drama continue and happy reading!

**Chapter 4**

"What happened?" She followed Jerry to the stage as quickly as possible without alarming anyone.

"Nicole doesn't know. She wants your help. As far as I know Will's getting weaker and he's refusing food." Noelle knew Nicole would need her help. They were both equally skilled in treating physical wounds, but only Noelle had extensive training with psychology. She knew it would take some tactics to convince William to keep fighting, stubborn man that he was.

Jerry stopped by Nicole who was kneeling next to what looked like a large rolled up blanket. When she got closer Noelle realized it was William, wrapped up tightly in a black hospital blanket used for hypothermic patients. This brutally reminded her of the growing cold. It shocked her how far the temperature had dropped just in the few hours she had been asleep. It had to be below freezing.

"What wrong Nicole?" Noelle asked quietly so she wouldn't wake Will.

"You know how about a week ago his wounds started to fester?" Noelle nodded her head and noticed with dismay that Nicole was shivering. It made her think of her own discomfort with the cold, and she shivered herself.

"Yeah," Noelle whispered, "We were worried they were infected with the alien Infection, but it turned out to be just a moderate viral infection. It's been getting worse, I know. But by the looks of things it's taking over more quickly than we thought, huh?"

"Exactly," Nicole pulled back one of the layers of William's cocoon to reveal his face, "We had to warp him up in a hypothermia blanket because a regular blanket wasn't keep him warm enough. His body can't fight off the infection and keep itself warm at the same time. I'm sacred that it won't matter much longer."

Noelle understood what Nicole meant. William's face was pale yet it looked hot to the touch. There was a soft sheen to this face from sweating out the fever. His fever was burning him up, but any exposure to the cold air would kill him easily. His breath sounded shallow and labored and his face was taut with weariness even in his sleep. His sudden downhill plummet from just a night or two ago also raised many alarms. All around, the beginning of what sounded like a textbook example of a person's last few days before dying from an infection. _But_, Noelle argued with the professional side in her head, _William is not a textbook person by any stretch of the imagination._

"I know what you mean," Noelle locked eyes with Nicole while she spoke, much like they had when they had worked together before, when just a look could express a complete thought or opinion, "But I think we should help him, help him fight. He's strong and I'm sure if we can hold out…"

She didn't finish. The look on Nicole's face told her bluntly that she had no hope. There was no chance she would even possibly entertain the thought that someone might come to help them now. It was another time it took Noelle great care to keep her mouth shut.

"I think we should do what we can for him," Nicole looked grave but not irritated with Noelle's statement.

"We should talk to him," Noelle reached for William, "It's his life so he should be able to decide what he wants to do."

She touched his face, even hotter than what she had anticipated, and gently called his name. After a few moments his eyes flickered open and finally were able to focus on her face.

"Dr. Clarke, you're back," he barely whispered, warmly though, but his face took on a worried look, "You don't look so good."

Nicole, Noelle, and Jerry laughed at once, but it was hushed and nearly half-hearted. It was Noelle's only reminder from the past few minutes that Jerry had even been there. His silence was profound and it bothered her. Although she was somewhat relieved that William still had enough strength to joke.

"I'm happy to see you've still got your sense of humor," Noelle gave him a smile that made her feel better herself. She was a bit surprised when William's smile didn't return.

"I wasn't being funny," he wheezed, but his voice seemed to carry a tone of earnestness, "It looks like you're been drug through hell and back by the seat of your pants."

"Well, we've had a rough three weeks so I'm not shocked in any way." Noelle sighed with relief when his smile returned, "Actually, now that I think about it, it's been almost four weeks now."

"But it feels so much longer," Nicole said quietly.

"Yes, I agree," William looked as if he was deep in thought, "But there's something… different about you." A few seconds later, a look that suggested he had solved some great mystery exploded onto his features, "A-ha! I know. You remind me of my old commander when I was in the military."

"Why is that?" Noelle was perplexed, "I'd think George would remind someone more of a leader than me."

"True," William nodded faintly, "But you, even more so. The look about you is tired, stressed, and weighted. Anyone could tell that the weight you carry on your shoulders is made up of more than the concern for yourself. You can tell the worry for others makes the worry for yourself look like a feather next to a sack of lead."

"But George cares for us too." Noelle didn't know why she was trying to disagree with him. She just felt that George deserved more credit.

"Yes, I'm sure he does. You and your team wouldn't be alive if he didn't take great care in planning your missions. I respect him for that. He has the head for it, but you have the heart. And he picks favorites too, which I don't approve of…" he trailed off, indicating that his last statement was more of a small side note than a serious thought.

"What's the difference?" Jerry seemed extremely intrigued by what the man might have to say. Noelle shared his great interest. Nicole looked on with tea party interest, seeming to take Will's talk as if it were nothing more than the ramblings of a delusional dying man than the truly wise words they were. It irritated Noelle, but she tried to chalk it up to stress making her more sensitive than usual. It didn't really work.

"He was _trained_ to be a commander," William looked and sounded like an old wiseman about to share a critical piece of advice with them, "So he's got everything he has to do in his head. But you, my dear? You were born with what you have. It's in your heart so it's much more natural for you." His face took one a dreamlike quality, "Oh, what I would give to see what kind of person you become after all this." Noelle felt a chill run down her spine, yet it was warm and full of somehow happy excitement. It was a statement that provoked a lot of questions in herself. She had almost been assuming that she would surely be dead before help could arrive. Her mind made a small jump for the hope that she might live to see her twenty-eighth birthday.

"Well, we're going to take good care of you so you have that opportunity," Nicole patted his side, which Noelle saw as a patronizing gesture, and got to her feet, "I'm going to go see if we have any bandages left. You need some clean ones."

After she left, Noelle caught William's eye, smiled, and said, "Thank you. That means a lot to me. Especially coming from someone who knows a lot more than I do. But what if I don't want to be a leader?"

"And why don't you want to be a leader?" he seemed patient, not puzzled.

"I don't have a love of power," she replied simply, almost automatically.

"Being a leader with heart doesn't have anything to do with the love of power, dear," William almost seemed to lean forward as he spoke, "It has to do with guiding and taking care of those who follow you for their benefit and well being, and then doing this to the best of your ability. And I see you and can tell you have no love of power."

"Thank you," she couldn't help but feel warmed by Williams words, "But if something horrible happened to the team it would be completely my fault. I don't want to make a mistake that could cost them their lives. I'd never forgive myself."

"It's hard to forgive yourself for something that hasn't even happened," William smiled wirily, "You beat yourself up for something you haven't even done. People make mistakes. I know that seems like little comfort but it's a fact and I know you're the kind that would rather be beaten with truth than soothed with lies. You may have a lot of heart but you need a few lessons too."

He chuckled to himself and yawned, "Just remember this. Even when you don't have faith in yourself, someone else does. And whatever you do, don't let that person down." After that he closed his eyes, a smile still strewn across his face, and fell asleep. Noelle noticed he looked more comfortable now, as if some great anxiety had left him.

"Well, he needs his sleep," Jerry pulled the blanket back over William and gave it a soft pat, "Cantankerous old man."

"Makes me feel proud of our efforts to try to survive this thing. Whenever I wondered if what I was doing actually mattered I looked at the sick people, especially Will, and it reminded me of the great kinds of people we're trying to save and how much it _would _mean."

"He still needs to eat," Nicole came back with bandages in her hand, but so little was left, "Will you roll him over for me, Noelle?"

"Nicole, I think we should let him be for now," Noelle looked her in the eye and prayed that she wouldn't argue, "He's tired and exposing him to the cold will probably do him more harm than good."

"But you know he'll die if we don't keep the bandages clean," she began to peel back the blanket, "And we need to get him food."

"Nicole," Noelle waited until she stopped and looked at her, "You know _we_ can't do anything. The only way he'll live is if we're saved in the next day or two and even then he might not make it. We're doctors. We have the knowledge and experience to save him but we lack the tools.

"What's a painter without his brush and paints?" Jerry murmured quietly. He was usually quiet in tense situations, but he seemed determined to make his opinion heard this time.

"And I can tell myself he's been preparing himself," Noelle continued, "He's been refusing food. He's telling us he wants to go when it's his time-"

"We can't just let him die!" Nicole's face had been getting taut until she nearly exploded, "And who are you to say what we should and shouldn't do? You worked mainly in the psych-ward while I stayed in the hospital."

"You know I spent as many years as an intern in the hospital wing as you did," Noelle was angry but did not raise her voice. She had heard this insult before; something many doctors who had experience in both emergency and physiological medicine had had used against them at least once in their careers. The accusation that she was less of a doctor because her major in psychology. It didn't completely shock her that Nicole was using it to play down her idea on what they should do.

"Weren't you the one who said we had to 'fight until the end'?" Nicole stared her down.

"I did," Noelle replied calmly, "But I didn't say each person had to. No one should be forced to fight for something they don't believe in or want. Especially when they're suffering while doing it. Will knows what he wants and so he knows what he wants to fight for. If he wants to die, let him die." These words made perfect sense to Noelle, while they only seemed to enrage Nicole. Noelle looked at her watch to see the time, wondering how long they had spent arguing. _Eight-thirty,_ she thought tiredly, _It feels like an entire day has gone by and it's been only an hour and a half. _When she looked back at Nicole the she looked more collected.

"Sorry, Noelle," Nicole's face was calm as she looked at Noelle, directly instead of facing the ground, and she looked ashamed, "I shouldn't have snapped at you. And that psychologist jab was a low blow. I'm being a bitch for no reason. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, Nicole," Noelle understood, "I know you don't like to see people die. I hate it too. We've fought so long and hard for him that we don't want to let him go. And al this stress isn't good for anyone. It's only a matter of time until I go off on someone too. Wolfgang almost got an ear-full yesterday."

"God, what a dick," Nicole shook her head, seeming more at ease that her apology had been readily accepted, "Just stay away from him. He's nothing but trouble."

"Yeah, but since we're locked in here it's hard to get away from him," Noelle herself was more relaxed, knowing Nicole hadn't meant what she had said earlier.

"Well, did you hear?" Nicole easily caught her attention with this, "People say he's been just vanishing during the night. Like he has somewhere to go. Sounds crazy, huh? But he's shifty so I'm not entirely disbelieving." Noelle could tell this wasn't a random piece of nonsense gossip floating around the group. This was crucial information that she would have to make great note of.

"And he could get out too because he was the one who helped put the door locks in place," Noelle felt her mind racing.

"One question is how he did it without anyone seeing him." Nicole looked equally as confused.

"We didn't have guards posted by the doors before," Jerry had been quietly absorbing what was said until now, "All he would have to do would be sneak out of bed, be quiet enough not to wake anyone sleeping in the audience seats, and then unlock the doors down the hall."

"That's right," Noelle felt another chill run down her spine, but this one very unlike the warm feeling William's kind words had caused, "But the real question is, what the hell was he doing?"

"Well," Nicole looked grave, "Some people have been saying that sick bastard may have-"

_**Bang!**_

The noise that stopped Nicole mid-sentence was deafening. Noelle looked past the row upon row of seats to the very back down the short hall. It was nearly pitch dark but the dim glow allowed her watch as one of the double doors to the concert hall buckled, then flew from its track and onto the floor. The resulting crash rattled the floor, all the way to the stage, waking everyone. Even those who were sick and weak looked around in bewilderment. To her horror, even before the door had hit the carpet several necromorphs came charging through.

Before Noelle was fully aware of what she was doing, her feet were carrying her across the stage and down the middle aisle screaming at the top of her lungs, "Guys, we've got a security breach! We need all team members up and fighting _now_!"

Within seconds most of the team was at her side and a volley of shots flew towards the oncoming monsters. After she focused on them she realized about six had gotten through; leapers, slashers, and lurkers. The lurkers were quickly taken down but the leapers and slashers worked to dance around the shots. One lone slasher was quickly upon Noelle. She swung her plasma cutter, smashing it in the head and splattering blood. It swung its arms wildly, leaving large gashes along her arms, torso, and upper legs. Her thin suit offered no protect against the sharp blades. Only the armor did anything to protect her soft flesh. Noelle jumped back and aimed her plasma cutter precisely to take out both arms. The limbs fell to the floor just as she set to take off a leg. As soon as she took the shot the creature fell to the floor with a gurgle to rest in a pool of blood.

With her attention no longer taken, she looked around herself to see her entire team was present and fighting the necros. George, who was the closest to her, was having trouble getting a good lock on a leaper that was scaling the walls to dodge his shots. Noelle ran to help him. Without a word between them, George distracted the beast with his own shots while Noelle took aim and deftly shot it off the wall, severing its tail from the body. It landed with a sickening thud on the floor and remained still. It was a gabling waste of ammo, but Noelle shot it again to make sure it wasn't playing dead; something they were known for. Thankfully, it was actually dead and no longer posed a threat.

All the other necros had fallen to the steady aim of the team members. Many of the ordinary citizens of the ship were huddled by the stage as far away from the threat as possible. Noelle couldn't blame them. She was as terrified as they were. Only her possession of weapons allowed her to have the gall to fight monsters like these.

She was just about to lower her weapon and turn to the others to discuss the next course of action when the lights went out. The sound of the power's humming fading and rapidly ceasing created a moment of silence gripped by sudden terror until a moment later the alarmed voices and cries of the group filled the entire theatre.

**Author's Note: **I know I'm evil with these cliffhangers. ;-) Hope you like everything so far. This are getting pretty hairy by now! Also, fanart is greatly welcome! I'm on Deviant Art under the same screen name so don't be afraid to drop me a line for a picture. Remember reviews are love! Happy reading!


	5. Resistance

**Author's Note: **Hey everyone! This is part two of "Die Sweiten Nacht". Hope everything has been fun to read so far. Sorry it's taken me so long to get a new chapter up. I've kind of lost motivation since not many people have been reading or reviewing. Anyway, it looks like the group is in deep trouble since the power went out: _dun dun dun!_ Happy reading!

**Chapter 5**

The sudden darkness was a shock to Noelle's senses. To her eyes, not a single photon of light was in the entire theatre. A few shrieks echoed from various corners of the theatre. _This can't be happening!_ Noelle thought frantically. There was nothing to anchor her. Nothing to ground her and allow her to right herself. The mere absence of light was warping her mind. It allowed her mind to imagine all kinds of monsters sneaking up on her, ready to pounce. She shook herself and demanded she get a grip. After a deep breath she took a few steps with an outreached arm. It found what felt like a shoulder.

"George?" Noelle barely whispered. She nearly collapsed with relief when a light flickered on into her face. It was George who had activated the light on his plasma cutter. _Duh!_ she thought with embarrassment, _I have a light too!_

"Team!" George called them to attention, "Regroup!" With that entire team formed a huddle.

"What the hell just happened?" George looked at them all to see if anyone knew anything, he seemed as dazed as everyone else, then focused on Jared when no one responded, "Do you have any idea how the locks gave way?"

"The power must finally given out." He said simply but with grim finality.

"I mean how did the power go?"

"I don't know," Jared looked at Merrilee frantically, "Our calculations are almost always correct the first time and we double-checked everything. We were sure we still had enough power for at least a day or two more."

"Well, we need to find out why this happened," George then looked at Noelle, "I want you to tend to the sick on the stage and help calm everyone down." He then addressed the team again, "After she does that we're going to follow the power lines and find where the problem lies." Noelle could feel in her gut he was right. Everyone was sweating despite the cold. At the moment the power had gone the temperature had dropped so rapidly that Noelle was able to feel the change in the room. She also knew in her gut that the problem was no accident.

"Well, the only explanation I can come up with is that there's a problem with the lines that run from the cells to this room," Tracy, one of the ship's best electricians, moved to the front of the circle with all eyes on her, "It could just be from the damage the rooms have taken from the necromorphs. Other vital equipment has been destroyed by them while they've attacked people. Or from them just moving around."

"Then we need to follow the lines and see if we can repair them," Jared said with precise calm, "My RIG has the maps of the lines stored so I don't have to access the ship mainframe for them, which I wouldn't be able to do now that the power is gone. We can follow the lines until we find the damage, then Tracy can repair whatever's wrong." Noelle was bothered by his face, the way he seemed to hold the smooth expression in place, but just barely. She could tell from everyone's face it was a useless mission, one to just keep them busy while they waited to die, but they were so unwilling to give up no one would admit it.

_**Clang-CRASH!**_

The team whirled to see the door being moved aside by another swarm of necros. This time several different kinds were in the horde. They seemed to have all been waiting in the area for their defenses to fall. This made her wonder if they were clever enough to wait, than they might be clever enough to cut the power lines.

"Son of a bitch! Where are they all coming from?" George called loudly, "Everyone who can needs to grab a weapon and help out!"

The amount of rounds flying towards the oncoming necromorphs lit up the room and created such a cacophony as they left the barrels of the guns that Noelle swore to herself that she would go deaf. Many fell quickly but many took to the corners or around obstacles where shadows were waiting to hide them. Only the lights mounted on the tops of their guns gave them any source of sufficient lighting to see by. Even then they only gave the team small circles of light whose edges were quickly swallowed by the surrounding darkness.

Noelle reluctantly moved forward towards a collection of shadows where she was sure a slasher had snuck off to. She pointed her light to chase away the dark and reveal a hulking E-Slasher that turned and charged her as soon as it saw her. The roar it let loose seemed to shake the floor beneath her feet and chill her to the bone. Nevertheless she took several shots and took it down. It felt like days of fighting. Noelle took down one after another, sometimes helping her fellow fighters to take down a particularly nasty monster. The snarls, roars, cries of people, pounding of rounds, and clanging of weapons and blades became an endless blurred nightmare that threatened to never stop.

By the end of it all her lungs stung horribly as she panted in the icy air. It burned her throat and made her head feel like it was stuffed full of cotton, but her racing heart and aching muscles demanded more oxygen. The theatre was silent as all the necromorphs that had attacked lay dead on the ground. The walls had received a fresh coat of splattered blood, both human and necro. George flickered his gun's flashlight to signal them that in was all clear. He called them over after they did several rounds to make sure nothing was hiding and waiting to spring. It felt like major déjà vu from the night before as the terrified murmurs of scared civilians echoed through the room.

Noelle shuddered as warm blood flowed down her body. The new gashes and wounds felt like they were aflame, while the rest of her skin was bathed in cold. Old ones had now ripped open from all the exertion of fighting. Despite her combat armor, much better than any engineer suit that relied on only a few bands of rusty metal, the offending blades found her skin. Dents in the plating told her the suit was doing its job, but it wasn't made for rampant zombies. In any military setting, whether training or a real battle, an area to repair armor after it took too much damage was available. An alert from her RIG cried out often to tell her the suit was far past due on repairs. The plates would start fail sooner than later.

"Well, that sucked." Jared said bluntly once they had reconvened. He winced as he shifted his weight to another foot.

"Alright," George grunted in pain but stood tall, "As I was saying before that… interruption, Noelle will go check on everyone. Then we're taking volunteers from the team to go find the problem with the lines. At least half the team needs to stay here to protect the group. We're not letting the survivors die just because we left. We're going to do this quickly and efficiently. Any questions?"

No one so much as moved an inch or uttered a word. George nodded and gestured with his signaled with his hand for the team to take their posts. With that many moved towards the doors, fanning the darkness with their flashlights. Jared and several others guarded the gaping hole where the double doors used to be. It made the room have an extreme air of vulnerability. Noelle turned on her shoulder-lamp that was attached to her RIG, making a larger pool of light to see by. Others around her did the same. She cautiously moved down the center aisle, or at least she thought it was, fighting the strange spinning in her head. She wrote it up to the cold. After tripping over the bodies of necromorphs, thankfully no humans, and scattered debris Noelle climbed onto the stage.

"Nicole?" she whispered, then tried a bit louder when she got no response, "Nicole?"

Her shoulder-lamp fell upon several people still lying on the stage, too sick to move even with all the danger. She cover it partially with her hand when she realized the bright light was hurting their eyes. They laid their heads back down after she passed, feeling more safe with a team member's presence after all the continual chaos. Noelle continued to tiptoe across the stage, feeling the floor creak and twitch under her feet. She halted in her tracks when a quiet voice sounded near her right.

"Noelle?" the voice got closer and Noelle swung her shoulder-lamp to the area where she was almost sure it was coming from. At first, the only thing her brain registered was blond hair and blue eyes. Only a second later did she recognize Nicole, her face covered in dirt and grime. Noelle realized that she only noticed it because the bright light emphasized it more than the usual dim lights in the theatre. Everyone was covered in a thick layer of grunge.

"Are you okay?" Noelle asked her as Nicole carefully made her way towards her.

"Yeah, just a little shaken up," she reached down to pick a flashlight that was lying by her feet, "I was scared enough when they broke down the doors, but when the lights went out and more came in, I thought… I thought it was all over." Noelle could tell by the way her voice shook that she wasn't lying.

"Did any of those nasties get back here and hurt anyone?"

"No, but people are starting to panic," the look in her eyes told Noelle that Nicole was feeling panic take hold as well, "I think they're losing faith that we might survive." Noelle remained silent for several seconds, her throat closed off by her own sudden panic, realizing she herself hardly had any faith left that they would live.

"Don't worry, Noelle," Nicole put her hand on Noelle shoulder, "They'll come around. The team fought those monsters off again and we're still alive so we shouldn't be losing hope in you guys or ourselves." Nicole had obviously misunderstood Noelle's silence, instead taking it as Noelle worrying about the group losing hope rather than her losing hope herself.

"Yeah…" Noelle decided not to correct Nicole on her assumption and drop the subject completely, "Listen. Can you watch the stage for me? I have to go with the team to see if we can fix the power."

"Sure," Nicole clicked on the flashlight and began to move from one person to the next to check on them, "Just be careful. I need all the help I can get here." Noelle gave her a quick nod she was almost sure the blond hadn't seen and hopped off the stage without using the stairs. She put her shoulder-lamp back on high power and went back through the obstacle course of a room the theatre had become. She approached the team, found her place next to Merrilee and Jared in the circle, and gave George her attention.

"Well, yet again we're up a creek without a paddle," George crossed his arms and nodded at Jared who activated a holographic map from his RIG, "This is the same map of the area we used for our food raids, except now we have the power lines highlighted." George uncrossed his arms and began to trace the lines with his finger, following a wall from the double doors to a room a couple hundred yards away. "We're going to follow the lines, periodically checking the walls with the scanners to make sure the lines themselves aren't damaged and seeing if they're viable. We can check to see where the power flow stops. If it's viable further up the line before be get to the room where the power cells are housed," he pointed to the room several hallways away, "we don't have to bust in there and look around. It would mean the lines are the problem. But if the cells are the problem we're going to have a messy job on our hands. So who's up for the job?" He looked around expectantly. Nearly everyone stepped forward. Those who stayed where they were had a good excuse. Noelle could see the many deep and major wounds that they had sustained during the fight. She would have told them to stay and rest anyway.

"Alright, we only need half the team so those who are in the best shape can come with me," George looked over everyone who had stepped forward and pointed as she called names. Several people were chosen, several were turned away. Jared and Merrilee were called as well. Noelle was stunned; her name hadn't been called. She counted back in her head and realized George had chosen half the team, but he had skipped her.

As he walked away the others followed. Jared and Merrilee looked back at her in confusion. Merrilee jogged back to her while George wasn't looking and said, "What's going on?"

"I have no idea," Noelle mumbled next to Merrilee's ear so no one would hear, "but I'm going to find out." She then strode up to George and tapped him on the shoulder. He stopped mid-stride and turned to face her.

"What's wrong, Noelle?" George's face and tone was that of innocence and ignorance. Noelle didn't buy it for a second.

"Why am I not going on the mission?" Noelle stood with her hands on her hips, feeling the irritation flowing through her, "You know I want to go. I'm not going to stand around here doing nothing when I can be out there helping."

"Noelle…" George dropped the innocent act and he began his "reasoning voice" as the team had come to call it. Whenever a team member began to argue with him they knew they were in for a long and drawn out battle when he armed himself with this tone.

"Have you seen yourself?" George gestured to her with a wide wave, "You're covered in blood, wounds, and filth. You're one of the worst for wear in the group, especially the team. You hardly bother to sleep anymore and I haven't seen you eat it days-"

"Other people need that food more than me," Noelle reminded him firmly. She knew she had to be assertive with this issue or she wouldn't have a hope of getting her point across. She would otherwise be very laidback and friendly when she spoke to George.

"Yes, I'm well aware that the civilians need food, but you do too," George sighed with frustration and paused a minute to collect his thoughts. This gave Noelle hope that he might be running out of arguments against her going, "Also, I'm not about to let a wounded soldier back out on the battlefield. You're better off here getting some rest." George began to turn away to signal that he was done negotiating when Noelle grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. The look of surprise then slight annoyance on his face was a bit worrisome, but Noelle still spoke.

"I'm not staying here." she said through her teeth, enunciating each word carefully. She wasn't trying intimidation. She knew it would get her nowhere with George, and it simply seemed mean. It felt a bit childish but Noelle could feel in her gut she couldn't bear to sit and do nothing while others put their lives in danger. George's eyes flickered across her face as he thought long and hard about the dilemma he was in. Noelle knew it would pain him to force her to stay.

"You're hurt, Noelle." George lowered his voice and his voice sounded sad. It hurt Noelle to know she had put him in a difficult spot.

"I'm sorry I'm doing this George," her face and tone softened as she realized how she was acting, "I just can't stay here and do _nothing_. And I'll be fine. I'm up and standing and I'd rather be out there risking my life than sitting on my rump getting in the way."

"I bet Nicole needs your help," his voice told her that this was his one last desperate plea to make her stay. She shook her head slowly in response, feeling a bit tired from the argument.

"Please, George," Noelle begged, the thought of staying back killing her, "Don't make me stay here." She watched while she jumped from hope to despair as several emotions passed over her commander's face. With a final sigh from him Noelle knew his decision.

"Alright," he continued with an upraised hand to halt her, "But you're sticking close to me. If you run off one your own again I'm going to chain to by a limb to the nearest solid object in the theatre. Understand?"

"Yes, sir." Noelle said with a smile that George returned, letting her know he wasn't harboring ill feelings after the argument.

"Okay guys, let's head out!" George called. Team members not on the mission fanned out with their should-lamps on high and posted guard on every door. The others gathered behind George and made their way procession towards the gaping hole that once was the double doors. The flood of shoulder-lamps from the many people in close quarters lit up the halls ahead like daytime on Earth at noon. Noelle winked at Jared and Merrilee from beside George. Merrilee grinned and mouthed a 'good job', having heard the exchange Noelle had with their commander. Jared gave her a quick thumbs up with a mischievous smile.

After only a few seconds Noelle looked back and realized the lights of the guards at the double-door hole had nearly been swallowed up by the surrounding darkness. It was the first faint feeling she had that going on the mission covered in the wounds she had might not have been the greatest idea.

**Author's Note:** Man, Noelle never gives up. Things are getting crazy! And please leave a review or drop me a line on Deviant Art (I'm under the same username on DA as on here). I really appreciate feedback! Happy reading!


	6. Hero's Return

**Chapter 6**

To anyone else the very little sound the many metal boots made would seem extremely strange, but the team hardly noticed. They had no idea the fear and drive to live had helped them to unconsciously train their bodies to reduce any noise to a whisper, just as Noelle's had. It was now almost second-nature.

George kept his scanner on the wall. It lit up the lines with a neon blue light on the screen in front of him. They were simply outlined in blue, meaning they were dead. If they had been solidly colored in it would mean they were live and transferring power.

_If only, if only,_ Noelle thought dolefully.

As they moved through the hall, making their way around fallen equipment and even furniture from lounges and rooms, they were attacked and ambushed several times. Leapers crawling along the walls sprung at them with their mouths gaping, showing their long jagged fangs. Slashers burst from vents or laid on the floors playing dead. They swung their bladed arms, often catching several team members in one swoop. Lurkers hid in corners, then shot their barbs at the team like they were target practice. Noelle made a mental note of how it wouldn't be fun getting those out for people when, or if, they got back.

The team was visibly shaken by the numerous attacks in the short amount of time they had been out. It was as if the necromorphs knew when they were at their weakest. Team members shuddered and shivered often. Noelle could tell the temperature was now low enough to cause hypothermia very easily. Even the air was out to get them now.

Following the lines was mundane so it did nothing to help keep Noelle from feeling the level of exhaustion her body was going through. Only the threat of the necromorphs kept her from collapsing to the ground in a heap. She could see the effects on the team as well. Many seemed to almost forget where they were or what they were doing before shaking their heads and refocusing a second later. The fatigue had even Noelle herself stumbling on nothing but smooth floor.

The team all started in unison as a sudden commotion started down a hall that branched off from their own. The roars and gurgles of necromorphs were nearly drowned out by the pained and terrified screams of a man. George was leading them down the hall at full speed before Noelle had really had a chance to think about what had happened.

Once they had pinpointed the source of the noise the hall was too dark too see by. The many shoulder-lamps and gun-lights of the team flooded the area and lit it up like daytime. In her drowsiness Noelle thought about how long it had been since she had seen sunlight. The lights fell on three pale, ghastly slashers and a bloody man in an engineer suit and helmet. One had the man pinned to the floor, slashing with its blades and tearing at his neck with the tiny tentacles sprouting from its mouth. The other two, who were standing to the side and watching, were almost immediately taken out by the team.

George nodded Noelle towards the third. They wouldn't risk firing at it while it was so close to the man. She unsheathed her sword and swung with poise and accuracy, taking off an arm with ease. It whirled around, pissed as hell, and roared in her face, then jumped back from the fallen man. Noelle jumped aside as the team littered it with shots. Once the noise stopped and the necro was left dead on the floor, spilling blood, Noelle squatted down next to the now unmoving man.

"Are you okay?" she reached out a hand to roll the man over on his back and was blinded when the he looked up to her. The bright blue lights from the horizontal view slits in his helmet were right in front of her, making her squint. Pulling off his helmet with a grunt as he struggled to stand, he finally managed to get to his feet with Noelle's help. Noelle breath caught in her throat and nearly choked her when she saw the face of the man before her. His graying black hair was mussed from his helmet and his face was weathered and beaten, making him appear much older than the forty-three years he actually was.

"Isaac!" She couldn't believe what she was seeing. The miracle of all miracles; her uncle was alive!

"Noelle?" He had been dazed as he took off his helmet, but his face lit up with astonishment and relief as he saw her. Before Noelle knew what had hit her Isaac wrapped her up in a hug so tight she could hardly breathe, but she felt all the more comforted. She buried her face in his shoulder and drowned out the outside world, reveling in the only feeling of safety she had felt in almost a month, however brief it would have to be.

"I was so afraid you were dead." Her uncle nearly sobbed as he spoke. He gave her one last squeeze before he released her. There were several surprised and excited exclamations from the team as they saw the man who was now a legend to them. He had survived the ship all alone until now, armed with a plasma cutter and little else.

"Thank God you're okay," Noelle could feel a few tears running down her face as the team stood by and watched, but she didn't care, "I was so sure when I heard the _Kellion_ boarded with us that you would have gotten killed." The night that Jared had been able to momentarily start up the computers on the ship the system alerted them that the ship had docked with theirs, then blacked out permanently. Another night they had found hope then lost it as they found the ship hours later, nearly destroyed and abandoned.

"You should know I'm tougher than that." He smiled, but the pain from his wounds was evident on his face as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"Yeah, I know," Noelle pulled out a few strips of cloth she had salvaged over time, "But those wounds need some bandages." Noelle began to wrap the worst of the cuts and gashes with the few strips she had when Isaac placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't you think you should use some of those yourself?" her uncle looked pointedly at the lesions on her arms, "I'll be fine. I've made it this far without them." Noelle never stopped wrapping as he spoke.

"I'm a medic," she said bluntly, "All I can do is try and help people. I didn't save these for myself." Then looked pointedly at the cloth in her hands.

"I understand that." He took one of the makeshift bandages from her hand and began to wrapp it around a particularly nasty gash on her upper arm. He lowered his voice so no one would hear, "But even our own personal little guardians could use some help sometimes." A warm smile covered his face.

"I couldn't be more proud of you," he said to her then looked over the team, "You've done a good job leading this many people and keeping them alive."

"Oh, I'm not in charge. I'm only second in command," she turned and pointed to George, "George is our commander." George took this as his cue to walk over and greet Isaac. They shook hands firmly while George beamed.

"So you're the man everyone's talking about," George stood back and appraised him, "Well, from your family history you and Noelle have a lot to live up to. Isaac, your father was Paul Clarke, right? The famous ship builder?"

"The one and only," Isaac replied, "And my brother, Noelle's father, is one of the leading surgeons on Earth. But Noelle opted for psychological medicine instead, but from what I hear she's climbing the ranks like Nathaniel did." Noelle blushed as Isaac said this. She felt like her achievements were being rubbed in everyone's face, yet it was nice to know he recognized them.

"She's taken good care of us." George smiled, but shivered as a chilly draft came through the hall. Everyone else shivered in turn as it reached them. George looked around at them and said, "I think we better hurry up and follow the lines. The sooner we get back to base the better."

He looked at Isaac, "And it's great to have you joining the team. I had been praying you were alive. Anyone who survived that long in the ship with no shelter has to have some talent."

"Thank you," Isaac replied, "How many people have made it?"

"A little over a hundred," George motioned in the general direction of the base, "We have twelve on the team here. If you would like to join it would be a great help."

"You and your team saved my life. Anything to repay you," Isaac said then gestured towards the scanner in George's hand, "What were you doing here?"

"Why don't you fill him in, Noelle," George walked through the group to go back down the hall to where they left off, "We can't waste any more time just standing and talking. We could be swarmed like we did at the base at any moment and the group needs us back as soon as possible."

"Understood," Noelle agreed readily. She didn't want to be out in the blackened halls any longer than she had to. The team followed in George's wake, pointing their lights forward as they walked. Those on the flanks of the team kept an eye on the vents and ceiling. Isaac fell into step beside Noelle as others around them glanced at him in awe.

"So what happened to you?" Isaac looked at her but kept his voice low to help the silence they wanted to retain.

"Well, I mostly stuck with Jared and Merrilee when the Infection first broke out. Before that I saw a lot of patients who were suffering from dementia. It was like nothing I'd ever seen. When I'd go to the medical wing I could hear the screams and yells of the patients who were going crazy. Even one of the nurses was killed by a patient having these horrible hallucinations," Noelle took a deep breath, remembering the horrible memories, "The doctors refused to return to work after a while. Then all hell broke loose. The crew started killing one another. A few days later the bodies of dead crewmembers started to disappear. Then the necromorphs started attacking. It didn't take us long to realize they were the crew. Or their bodies at least. We gathered up quickly and holed ourselves up in the theatre. We started out with almost two-hundred people, but we lost so many from wounds and sickness. Now we're down to just over one hundred. And all this started when they pulled up that damn Marker."

"My God," Isaac muttered. Noelle couldn't blame his loss for words. He was usually quiet in his day to day life, but hearing about such horrors would shock him to silence easily. He was intelligent and Noelle could tell his speechlessness came from him thinking. He was pondering often, being the thoughtful engineer that he was. Others took it as a lack of interest or a reclusive personality, but Noelle knew better. He was absorbing her words and filing them away.

"Have you picked up any video or audio files?" he lowered his voice further, "Even text files?"

"A few," Noelle was getting nervous. She knew whatever he was getting at was going to be big, "Just people describing the mayhem. A few Unitologist nutcases' last rants. But that was about it. Why?"

"I've collected these files; audio, video, and text," he looked around and continued when he saw no one was eavesdropping, "You know the Marker that Altman, the guy who was killed and started Unitology, had found on Earth? Well, apparently some government researchers reversed-engineered the Marker to make a new one. The Black Marker was found on Earth. The researchers left the Red Marker on Aegis 7."

"I knew they had made the new one, but no one ever knew what they did with it," Noelle was taken aback and knew he wasn't finished, but asked, "Why did they put the Red Marker here?"

"They found that the symbols on the Markers were a DNA code for a virus. The necromorph virus. Then they started experiments on it. All the research was done on Aegis 7, away from the public eye. They found through a breach of decontamination protocol that it reacts with dead tissue. They made a huge breakthrough when they rolled the Red Marker by the lab to transport it and found that it made the virus go dormant."

"It stopped the virus from reacting completely?" Noelle kept her voice to a whisper the best she could.

"Yes," Isaac nodded, "It created a small area of something they called 'dead space' by emitting a field that stopped the virus from recombining. And since the researchers had one accident with protocol they surely had other problems. They were exposed to the virus somehow and started going crazy. Some were turned into necromorphs and the remaining researchers tried to quarantine them. The Infection took over despite it."

"Did anyone survive that Infection?" Noelle thought that maybe if the scientists had survived then they might have a chance.

"A few of the scientists did," Isaac nodded without enthusiasm, "but they went crazy. They said they started hearing voices telling them to build a pedestal for the Red Marker. It amplified the Marker's effect on the virus and successfully repressed the virus. They hid it on the planet to keep it from spreading ever again."

"And the virus started up again because the colonists dug it up and took it off the pedestal," Noelle thought for a minute then said, "Then why did the Earth Government let the colony dig here if they knew they were hiding the Red Marker here?"

"They didn't allow Concordance to mine here." Isaac was referring to Concordance Extraction Corporation, the company that owned the _USG_ _Ishimura_ and many other starships. It was the company that funded and ran the operations on Aegis 7, but that was only one of the many other planets the company had mined. It was also known to have many connections with the Unitologist Church.

"So the mining operation was illegal," Noelle said more to herself than Isaac, "Then Concordance had something to do with all this." It was half a question and half a statement.

"Bingo," Isaac looked her in the eyes, as if he was trying to communicate something important to her without words, "They've had something to do with this the entire time."

Noelle started to ask her uncle how the C.E.C had been involved for so long, but was cut off by Jared and Merrilee waving and calling her over. She realized the team had come to a halt in the middle of the hall. George was waiting for her several yards ahead, pointing his light at something on the wall to the left. He lowered his light as she approached.

"You're never going to believe this." George's face was grim. He pointed the light on his gun to the left wall. It made Noelle's heart race and her stomach sink. The metal of the wall had been cut away in a neat square, revealing the power lines that lay behind. They had been cut like the wall, but the ends had been viciously torn to make any kind of reconnection impossible. The rest of the team had seen after a few seconds and Noelle could see the change in their faces. The color drained from their faces and their features sagged as they realized they could never get the power going again. Hope was being lost.

"What do we do now?" Noelle asked. Her voice sounded flat and empty and she felt like an idiot for it, but the devastation was so great she couldn't stop herself. George bowed his head and put a hand on her shoulder.

"'We dig in our heels, hunker down, grit our teeth, and fight off anything that comes through those doors,'" he echoed her earlier words from her little speech earlier with a look of determination, "'We'll survive.'" He gave her a small smile which she returned gratefully, but it vanished with a new thought. She looked at the floor, too afraid to voice her idea.

"George," she said to the floor, "do you think _they_ did it?"

"The necromorphs?"

"No, I mean the other aliens-" Noelle stopped when she heard muttered conversations suddenly stop. Looking up she realized George hadn't been the open to ask the question. Jerry had been standing behind her so she had thought it was George. The entire team had heard her words.

"What do you mean 'other aliens'?" Jerry asked with a look of utter shock on his face. Noelle immediately regretted not telling anyone but the team about the aliens. How had she completely forgotten that others not in the loop had taken the place of team members that were too sick or weak to go with them?

"I'm sorry, guys," Noelle addressed the whole team, "I should have told you. I just didn't want to cause panic."

"Hey, don't put all the blame on yourself," Merrilee said from the flank of the group, "Jared, George, and I never told anyone either. It's as much our fault as it was yours."

"We wanted to know more about them before we said anything," George said, "We didn't know whether they meant to harm us or help us. We might just have our answer now." Many team members started to ask questions all at once but George silenced them with a wave of his hand.

"We need to discuss this back at the base," he signaled them to follow and started back the way they had come, "No sense in doing it here."

_Shit,_ Noelle thought to herself,_ I really screwed up. Why does George ask me to make decisions? If I keep this up no one in the group will ever trust me again._

They walked back to the base in silence for a long time. Jerry met up with Noelle near the back of the group and matched her pace.

"It's okay," Noelle looked at him directly, not bowing her head, "You can yell at me. I should have told you."

"Yes, you should have, maybe," Jerry looked at her and tilted his head in thought, "But then again it could have sent everyone into a panic when you also mentioned you had no idea what they wanted. Now that you have an idea, it will help."

"Do you really think that?" Noelle thought it over, then decided he was probably right, "True, but I hope I didn't destroy everyone's trust."

"You didn't. They know it wasn't the most important thing to worry about at the time. No need weighing down their minds with something else." Noelle realized he was right. No one was giving her the dirty looks she was expecting. One woman even tapped her on the shoulder and asked her about the aliens. Noelle was then almost swarmed again by a flurry of questions.

"You're not pissed we didn't tell you?" She asked in disbelief.

"Depends," one man said, "how long have you known."

"A day or two, but we were going to tell you after the power problem was fixed," she explained, "we wanted everyone to be thinking clearly on the mission."

"It helped though," Jerry chimed in, "We could tell there was something you guys weren't telling us. You looked freaked out and distracted the whole time. Imagine the whole team being like that. We would have gotten ourselves killed."

"But I promise you guys will get every bit of information from now on." Noelle said loud enough so everyone would hear. She received several nods and a reassuring pat on the back from Jerry. The rest of the walk back was dead quiet. Jared and Merrilee walked beside her, still loyal friends. It made her thankful for them.

The atmosphere was almost visibly electrified. The nervousness over what to do next was evident, but even more glaring was the hope Isaac had instilled in the team at the most needed time. If that had fallen into place so neatly, Noelle dared to think that something else might as well. She smiled because no matter how hard she tried to stop it she couldn't suppress a small spark of hope from burning in her heart.

The team wasn't attacked on the long trek back to base. Noelle knew they had cleared the necromorph out of the immediate area, but as they neared the hall that lead to the theatre she could see many piles of debris had been freshly scattered. It was different from when they had left. All flashlights were on gap where the doors had been, which was now nearly completely blocked with furniture and scrap metal from the theatre. It was decorated with fresh blood stains, raising the hairs on the back of Noelle's neck and making her heart race.

Without a signal from George or any other cue, the entire team went racing towards the obstacle and leapt over it. Noelle followed George's lead by placing a hand on the top of the barricade and using it to help propel her over it. She swung to the side, then up and over. George held up his hand to stop the team then signaled them to spread out cautiously once they had all made it to the other side of the hurdle.

Noelle immediately headed for the stage, taking the steps up two at a time, but creating little sound. She stopped in the tracks when she heard a soft noise. Her heart stuttered then raced on. She was shrouded by the curtains on the side of the stage, but it also blinded her vision and confused her brain. Listening closely she was able to pinpoint the noise. It was coming from the far back of the stage, buried in the curtains like she was. Sweat beaded at her brow so she quickly wiped it away to prevent it from cooling her down. Warmth was the only thing she needed now that the temperature was plummeting.

As she neared the noise it started to sound like small breaths. After a few steps only a single curtain separated her from the source of the whispering noise. Taking a deep breath she put her hand on the edge and counted down in her head.

_One…two…_ she thought slowly, _three!_ At three she pulled back the curtain swiftly and pointed her gun directly in front of her. The light caught nothing until she looked down. Five feet away was a young woman, a young medic who was no older than twenty, sitting on the floor with her back pressed to the wall and tears streaming down her face. As she looked closer Noelle realized that it was Michelle, one of the interns. The small girl started and nearly screamed, but stopped herself.

"Oh my God," Noelle knelt down in front of her, "What happened here?" Blood and dirt was smeared across her face and through her short black hair. The tears had left trails through the grime on her cheeks.

"More attacked," Michelle managed to say between the sobs with shook her small frame, "We were hardly able to hold them off. The team members that stayed finally killed them."

"Where's Nicole?" Noelle looked around to see if anyone else was hiding in the curtains, "We need to check on people."

"Noelle," Michelle waited until Noelle looked back at her, "Nicole is dead."


	7. A Familiar End

**Author's Note****: **I'm back! I know, I know. I took forever to get this chapter up. Well, school started back up and teachers obviously don't believe we have lives outside of school so I've been spending all my time on homework. I did find the time to get this done though. And I promise to never abandon this story for no reason. I won't just stop updating, I swear. And thank you to everyone who wrote me all those awesome reviews! You guys rock! Happy reading!

**Chapter 7**

Several seconds passed as Noelle's head spun, trying to come up with an explanation for what she had just heard.

"What?" Noelle rocked back on her heels, but steadied herself.

"A slasher jumped up on the stage," Michelle gestured towards the stage which was still veiled from view by the side curtain, "Nicole tried to protect sick on the floor. She had a gun, but there was only a few rounds left and everyone else with a weapon was fighting somewhere else.

"I saw that there were no weapons nearby so I called to a soldier who was standing by the stage. He had his back to me and he kept looking around like he didn't know what was going on. I kept screaming at him, but he wouldn't turn around. I knew he heard me. It was loud, but he was so close. I freaked because… he just wouldn't turn around.

"I tried to help Nicole. I hit the slasher with a piece of pipe I found, but it knocked me down. I jumped up again, but by the time I got up it had gotten her. I caught her when she fell," the girl then gestured to an enormous blood stain across the front of her white medic uniform and fresh tears started to fall, "I tried to drag her away from the slasher, even though I knew she was dead. I just didn't know what to do. One of the civilians found a plasma cutter on the floor somewhere and killed it before it got to me.

"I'm so sorry." She bowed her head in shame.

"Are you okay?" Noelle put hand comforting hand on the frightened intern's shoulder.

"I'm okay." Michelle looked up at Noelle with bloodshot eyes.

"You did all you could," Noelle looked her in the eye, "and that's all anyone could ask of you. You were brave enough to take on a slasher with nothing but a chunk of pipe. I'm proud of you." Noelle reveled in the way the girl's face lit up. She knew Michelle looked up to the medical officers, so this encouragement meant everything to her.

But her prevailing thought was who the soldier was that had ignored Michelle and just stood there. Noelle pushed it from her mind for the moment, knowing more important things demanded her attention.

"Where is she?" Noelle asked gravely. She had trouble pushing the thought of telling Isaac out of her head. She knew it would hurt him horribly. It felt like it was done on purpose, just to make her uncle suffer.

"Over there." Michelle pointed towards the very front edge of the stage to Noelle's right. Noelle offered the girl a hand then helped her to her feet once she took it. She followed closely as we moved in the direction she pointed, but stopped when reached to pull back the last curtain.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, "I can't look. Not again."

"It's okay," Noelle gave her a nod, "Just stay right here." Michelle nodded back and stayed put.

Noelle pulled back the curtain and nearly broke into tears at the sight before her. There lay Nicole, pale like death and covered in blood. Her throat had been slit and huge long gashes were raked across her midsection. A chill ran down Noelle's spine as she saw that Nicole's eyes were still open, staring out without actually seeing. Noelle pulled off one of her own bandages and gently tied it around Nicole head, covering her eyes. She put a hand on Nicole's ice cold side. The freezing temperature had turned her into a frozen statue.

"I wish you were still here, Nicole," Noelle said softly, "Isaac misses you. He's going to be so hurt when he sees you now." Noelle sighed and a single tear ran down her cheek and landed with a soft pat on the floor.

"All those sick people are now all dependant on me. I need your help," Noelle felt like she was pleading even though it was useless, "And you know things I don't. You knew Wolfgang was up to something and you almost told me. I need to know what he did. But you can't tell me." Noelle sighed with sadness and frustration, but the only answer to her words was resounding silence. Out of the blue she jerked when a thought suddenly hit her.

"But maybe you can." She said a bit louder as her excitement grew. She fiddled with Nicole's RIG until she was able to pull out a small disc as big around as a bottle cap and about an inch thick. It was the memory drive from Nicole's RIG. It may have recorded Nicole's conversation with the person who told her about Wolfgang and what he might have been up to. Nicole would had to have turned it on at just the right time, but any chance was a good one.

Noelle linked it up with her RIG, copied the data to a file on her own hard drive, then stored the memory drive in her inventory for safe keeping. If she were to lose the memory drive she would thankfully still have all it's data backed up on her own RIG.

_I'll look at that later._ Noelle thought to herself.

"My God," a voice from behind her barely said. Noelle jumped and whirled. It was Isaac, his face pale and devastated. Noelle felt her stomach sink and her heart ache.

"I'm so sorry, Isaac." Noelle whispered and reached out to comfort him. He didn't move away from her touch, but she could tell he hardly felt it. He knelt down beside her after a few moments, his eyes on Nicole's body. He placed a hand on Nicole's arm and bowed his head. Noelle listened as he took several deep breaths. His quietness didn't worry her, but she wished he would look at her. After a long sigh he answered her prayer.

"Do you know what happened?" He asked, his voice gruff and tight.

"Yeah," Noelle nodded, keeping he voice low, "She was protecting the sick on the stage from a slasher. Michelle, one of our medical interns, tried to help, but… she couldn't stop it."

"Well…" he choked back tears before he continued, "Nicole went out fighting. Nothing more we could have asked of her. I wish she could be here now."

"Well, Michelle told me something interesting."

"What did she say?" The grief was receding from his face. Nicole and he had separated quite a while ago and family trumps ex-girlfriends any day. He could mourn another time.

"She said she called for help to a man who was by the stage who was just standing there," Noelle felt her face flush with anger, "and he wouldn't turn around. He ignored her."

"Who is he?" Isaac's brows dropped and he clenched his fists.

"I don't know," I pulled out the memory drive, "But this might tell us."

"Whose is that?"

"Nicole's," Noelle replied, "Not only could it tell us who ignored Michelle, it could tell us what Wolfgang's apparently been up to."

"Who?" Isaac questioned. Noelle didn't feel annoyed by all his questions. It put her at ease because the more information Isaac had the better chance he had of helping her solve these mysteries. His high intelligence drove him to collect information.

"Wolfgang Osiris. He's been claiming George is leading our team in plotting to kill off the rest of the group. He's so adamant about it I think he's starting to lose touch with reality. Nicole knew something we don't. Or someone else does and they told her. She told me just before the attack that she had heard that he was sneaking around when most people are sleeping. He has to be up to something malicious."

"I agree," Isaac nodded gravely, "We better keep a close eye on him. Don't give him the chance to turn the group on you by undermining their trust of you. When George calls that meeting you tell them everything, and I mean _everything_. If you lay it all out on the table for everyone to see he can't claim you lied about anything."

"That will help, but I'm sure he would be able to frame me for something if he put his mind to it." Noelle retied her ponytail. It had come loose over the past several hours. She winced when her hand rubbed a cut behind her hair line.

"Just do what you can," Isaac stood then let a small smile through, "I'd really like to hear about these 'other aliens'."

George's booming voice echoed across the walls and the waves of sound coming from the murmuring audience quieted to silence. "Attention!" he had called. Noelle stood next to him on his right with Jared and Merrilee on his left. The rest of the team stood next to them, forming an even line across the stage. The rest of the group was either in the seats in front of them or lying on the stage. The sick had not been moved, but new arrivals had been laid beside them. The only lights were those on the team member's guns and shoulder-lamps. The beams of light illuminated their faces. Noelle shivered often, reminded of the cold as everyone's wispy white breath billowed into the air.

"Alright. Listen up." George's strong voice permeated the quiet and commanded attention without threatening or yelling. Even the sick behind him watched if them could. Tough as he was his voice was rough and cracking. None of the team had eaten, drunk, or slept in quite a while. Noelle knew she hadn't eaten for at least a week, so she couldn't imagine how long George had held out. All eyes were on him.

"Some new information has come to light," George said, "And I would like to admit that I have not been completely honest with you."

"Neither have I." Noelle chimed in. Jared and Merrilee followed suit willingly.

George continued, "We have learned, from the experience of our own medic and soldier Noelle here, that something new is on the ship." Several gasps scattered through the crowd and voices grew louder and louder in excitement and fear, but George continued on.

"We've learned that another alien species has boarded the ship." George stopped and gestured for Noelle to pick up where he left off. She took a step forward and retold the story; the hall, the human-like aliens, the flight from the necromorph that attacked. "We don't know for sure what their intentions are," Noelle said, confidence in her voice, "but we might be getting an idea. We just got back from checking the power lines. Nothing was wrong with the power cells, the lines have been cut, and it couldn't have been necromorphs. Only a manmade tool could be as neat and even as the marks were. Or maybe not 'manmade'. I'm sure you understand what I'm implying.

"If those aliens cut the lines we see no hope in receiving help from them. We don't have solid proof they did it, but who else would have done it? That being said if you suspect someone did this then please let us know. We're trying to get everyone out of here alive and this might doom us." Noelle shifted a bit as she tried to remember what she needed to say next, "We're still attempting to find a way to bring communications back up, even though it's failed so far. But not all news is bad. Isaac Clarke has been found and he's alive." She stopped as the entire congregation cheered and clapped with delight. It made her smile. The look of hope on their faces warmed her heart and in return gave her hope as well.

Isaac walked from behind a curtain and the ovation intensified. Man roared, women screamed. Some people even wept with happiness as the battered and bleeding man limped up next to his niece. His smile was as wide as Noelle's. He avoided patting her on the back knowing she had a large gash there-and just about everywhere else-, but placed a hand on her shoulder where a plate of armor protected her skin. Isaac cleared his throat, which sounded dry as sandpaper.

"I'd like to thank you all for your warm welcome," he said, looking around the room and even the sick at the back, "I wouldn't even be here right now if Noelle and her team hadn't saved me." Noelle blushed, but let him continue.

"I've gained tons of information from my time on the ship. I know now how to kill certain necromorphs with certain tactics. I can teach you guys and give the team special training. I am _not _letting anyone stay defenseless. Luckily, I've found enough credits on the ship to get the entire team combat suits. The more equipment we have the better prepared we'll be for whatever gets in here. But most importantly, we're not going to give up. Always remember that. Noelle and her team are here to make sure you never have to give up in the first place. They'll fight for you, with you. Have faith." The cheering rose again as soon as he stopped speaking. Noelle knew instantly that her and the team were now the symbol of hope, with Isaac as its head. It was a lot to live up to, but she would do her very best to make sure she did.

The team took turns in small groups of twos and threes going to the stores to get their suits. Isaac went first to show them how the machine attached the suit for them. Few of them had ever changed into an engineering or combat suit so the machine might have frightened them had he not proven it safe. Noelle went last, wanting to keep an eye on the sick on the stage. She only left when Isaac practically dragged her away. Once in her suit she felt more protected, but nowhere near safe. Isaac found them more powerful weapons. Noelle particularly liked the Javelin Gun. It was a large gun that shot solid metal javelins as thick as a baseball bat and about twice the length with such force they could pierce metal walls.

Noelle stood with her team. Their new armor was plated instead of ribbed. It was thicker and more resilient to assault. Thankfully, it had a full-head helmet built into the suit that could be activated with the simply tap of a button. Several new weapons lay ready to use in each of their RIGS. Noelle chose the simple Plasma Cutter, like Isaac, for now. The Javelin Gun consumed ammo too quickly to be considered efficient if a large number of necros stormed the theatre. Noelle looked up and down the line of people on either side of her. Isaac, Merrilee, Jared, and George were all the closest to her. George looked pleased by the appearance of the team. The team seemed uplifted a bit as well. Despite the cold, the sickness, and the deaths, Noelle could have sworn she saw a glimmer of hope in their eyes. Noelle could feel in her heart she held on to a small thin ribbon of hope as well. The entire team loaded and readied there weapons, ready to defend the theatre, and the people in it, to the death.

**Author's Note****: **I know this is a bit shorter than usual, but I didn't want to keep you guys waiting much longer. I'll get to work quickly on the next chapter. I've very excited for it! Hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I have. Happy reading!


	8. Posies, Ashes, and Conspiracies

**Author's Note:** Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to update. I've been crazy busy. So things should start speeding up because in a few chapter we're going to be getting to one of my favorite parts of the story (no I won't say what ;) ). Feel free to leave me a review and I apologize for any grammar and/or spelling mistakes. I didn't proofread this a thoroughly as I usually do since I wanted to get this up for you guys. Happy reading! 3

**Chapter 8**

Noelle looked at the clock built into her RIG. The holographic display told her it was past midnight. She immediately regretted looking at it, even though she was truly curious about how long it had been since she had last checked. That gap of time brought everything into perspective, making all that she had suffered all the more real. In some ways less. She couldn't imagine that all the problems with keeping the group going had only happened in the past two days. Even the past month couldn't seem to hold the entire outbreak and aftermath. The feeling of years having past was strong, despite the much shorter time span.

The time also meant she hadn't had sleep for over twenty-four hours. It also meant it had been three days since the first breach of the doors.

She looked around to try and distract herself. People slept while team members walked about. The entire team had been guarding the door until they were finally able to block it up again, after which they took shifts. The material used to fix the door was much flimsier and it was an inadequate patch job at best, but it was the most they could do. Even then at least half of the team was up to keep watch.

The bodies of the dead necromorphs were thrown outside. The sight was disturbing enough, but Noelle specifically urged the issue to be fixed immediately. If someone were to recognize a family member or friend they may lose hope or have a meltdown. Her experience at hospitals had taught Noelle that many times and in different ways.

Noelle idly twisted the fabric of her gloves, thumbing the smooth metal that plated it. It was an unconscious tick of hers, wanting to have something in her hands; an anchor in the darkness. A comforting movement.

"_Twinkle, twinkle little star. How I wonder what you are,_" Noelle found herself quietly singing to herself, staring off at nothing in thought, "_Up above the world so high. Like a diamond in the sky._" She was suddenly bathed in darkness as a team member moved away, taking the beam coming from his shoulder-lamp and gun with him. She shuddered knowing the power would never return. "_When the blazing sun is gone. When the nothing shines upon._" Her thoughts, seemingly randomly, flashed to the necromorph-like aliens. The ones with the glowing eyes. "_Then you show your little light. Twinkle, twinkle all the night._" Her mind replayed the attack of the E-slasher… and how the aliens had held it off as she ran. "_Then the traveler in the dark, thanks you for your little spark. He could not see which way to go, if you did not twinkle so._" She fidgeted as she sang, knowing their intentions were still not confirmed. "_Though I know not what you are, twinkle, twinkle little star._"

Her parents had sung her that song from when she was a baby and into her teenage years. Once she was old enough she sang along with them. It suddenly felt more important to her now than it ever had before.

"Mind if I sit down with you?" Came a voice from behind her. Noelle jumped at the sudden sound, but quickly realized who it was. Isaac awkwardly sat down beside her, trying not to aggravate his wounds more than was necessary. "I remember that song. My parents, Paul and Octavia, used to sing that to me."

"My grandparents." Noelle nodded her head in confirmation.

"Nathaniel, being my big brother, used to scare me with another song," he shook his head and laughed softly at the memory, "Our parents only sang it to him because he was older. They said I wasn't old enough to hear it. Too scary I guess. It's been sung in our family for 200 years."

"What was it?" Noelle asked.

"Want me to sing it for you?" He asked cautiously, "It's kind of twisted though."

"I'll be fine." She assured him.

After clearing his throat he started in a deep clear voice, "_Ring around the rosie. Pocket full of posies. Ashes, ashes. We all fall down._"

"That's not bad," Noelle stated matter-of-factly, "Lots of kids sing that."

"But my parents sang other lines," he sighed tiredly, "I knew they weren't from the original song because when I sang them at school none of the other kids knew them." Noelle nodded for him to continue. "_Ring around the rosie. What do you suppose we can do about the darkness in which we drown._ _Ring around the rosie. This evil thing: it knows me. Lost ghosts surround. I can't fall down._"

Noelle shuddered violently, but not because of the frigid cold. "Why did your parents sing him that? It sounds deranged."

"It was a warning," he looked her in the eyes, trying to convey the importance of the words, "But not about what you would think."

"About what's happening right now." Noelle said with conviction. The realization felt like a slap in the face, and raised more questions than it answered. Isaac nodded in response.

"I think so," his blue-green eyes grew weary, like he had aged several hundred years right before her eyes, "My parents told my brother not to scare me with it anymore. Your father sure could be difficult, but he always had a good heart. He stopped right after that. When they talked to me about it they told me to remember the songs they sang to me and I would always be safe."

"I guess the hardest thing now is figuring out what exactly it's warning us about." Noelle mused. Isaac nodded again and seemed to drift off into thought. "Well," Noelle started again after several seconds of thought, "Many of us have already 'fallen down'. It talks about drowning in darkness too. Sounds like it predicted the power would get cut. Then an 'evil thing' that knows us."

Isaac looked around quickly, and seeing that no one was within earshot, whispered to Noelle, "You were right to keep an eye on Wolfgang. He's Lucas Osiris's son."

Noelle was surprised by the sudden change of topic, but her mind still whirled. "You mean _the_ Lucas Osiris? Lucas VI?" Lucas Osiris was a man to be feared. He was a ruthless businessman and CEO of a pharmaceutical giant. But those with connections, like Clarke family, knew he had expansive influence. People believed he only generously donated to the Unitologist Church. Few knew that he was the hidden puppeteer pulling the strings behind the scenes. He was also known to push his weight around on Concordance. Noelle's grandfather, Paul Clarke, had just as much influence, if not more than Lucas. The Clarke family had always hated the Osiris family with a passion, and vice versa. Noelle didn't know why the hate ran back so many generations in either family- the cruel Osiris's were hated by many- but she know something huge must have started the feud.

"That's the one," Isaac said venomously. Noelle had never heard him use the tone her older relatives used when talking about the Osiris family. It was a tone that bled hate and disgust. The older generations of her family knew something about the feud that she didn't and it now seemed that Isaac did as well.

"But all the Osiris's name their sons Lucas," Noelle stated the obvious. The Osiris obsession with the name Lucas was common public knowledge. Remembering Wolfgang's face in her mind, she could easily see the resemblance, but the name being anything other than Lucas was what had thrown her. She was surprised the light brown hair and flat piggish nose hadn't given him away immediately. If not that, then the nearly black eyes should have. All were trademark traits of the Osiris family.

"I think they named him Wolfgang to keep him under the radar. Naming him Lucas would have made him a blatant Osiris."

"But why would they want to keep him under the radar? Makes it look like he's up to something," Noelle mused.

"Listen. We can't talk about this here," Isaac looked nervous, something out of character for him, "Just do something for me. Don't mention this conversation to anyone and whatever you do, stay away from Wolfgang for now. Never let your guard down. If he's near have your hand on your gun."

Noelle grabbed Isaac by the arm when he got up to leave. "You are not leaving me here after saying that," she whispered furiously, "What are you hiding from me? What do you know that I don't?" She meant both the history of the feud and Wolfgang.

"Sorry, hon," Isaac looked truly apologetic, "We can't talk about it here. I need to keep you safe for as long as I can. I won't always be there to protect you, even though I wish I could. Just do what I said. Be safe." He turned to go but stopped and whispered so low and hurriedly in her ear she could hardly keep up, "I lied earlier. I knew the others were listening. The Aegis VII incident with the scientists who studied the Marker wasn't an accident. I gave the 'official' version before. This one wasn't an accident either. Keep your eyes open." He gently pulled his arm free, gave her a quick hug, and walked off without looking back. Noelle had jumped up to stop him, but he had been too fast.

Noelle stood in place, too stunned to move. She had to figure out what was going on. The feud just got much bigger in her mind than it ever had before. Before, she thought it was only one small part of her family, but after the songs and the eerie warning from Isaac, it felt like it almost completely consumed it.

She sat back down, head in her hands. _When will this nightmare end? Is there no end to this madness?_ she thought wildly. Her world was coming apart. The virus, walking dead monster, the Marker, Wolfgang, the first Aegis VII incident; not an accident. The second incident; not an accident. Thoughts played like a film reel on fast forward. The thought that the suffering around her was planned made her feel utterly ill. Her mind momentarily tried to reject the idea completely, but something in her told her it was true and trying to convince herself otherwise was naïve and pathetic.

"You okay, love?" Noelle jumped at Merrilee's voice that came from beside her. She had been so lost in thought she hadn't heard her approach.

"Yeah… uh. I'm fine," Noelle managed, "Just… thinking." Merrilee didn't seem to buy it, but shrugged it off anyway.

"You just looked freaked out," Merrilee said as she sat down beside her, "Bloody hell. I'm so tired. I'd give anything for a nice soft bed and something to eat. Something real to eat. Not just junk food from the vending machines."

"I know… me too." It took Noelle a minute to switch gears from her whirling thoughts to the present conversation. Movement caught her attention. She immediately recognized Jared by his wavy blond hair. He plopped down in-between Noelle and Merrilee, putting an arm around both, and pulled them close. He leaned over and planted a smooch on Merrilee's lips. Merrilee embraced him and managed a smile.

"So, who shoved sticks up your asses?" Jared grinned at them both. Noelle rolled her eyes, mirroring Merrilee unconsciously. That was Jared. He'd make jokes to the bitter end. She couldn't hate him for that. Under any other circumstances she loved her friend for his perpetual optimism like a brother.

"How are you so happy?" Merrilee asked with slight annoyance.

"Yeah, you're in an awfully good mood." Noelle commented. Something major was required to excite him like this. He was no where near as disheartened as the others, but in the past month he was much more solemn than usual (for obvious reasons).

"I was able to get live feeds from some cameras I set up!" His eyes grew wide and his smile gaping. He vaguely resembled an owl with dentures. Noelle's shoulders slumped. She had been hoping for something more… grounding-breaking than that. Live feeds were so simple a ten year old versed in five minutes worth of television could set one up, albeit setting up equipment was a unique challenge on the necromorph infested ship with no power.

The 'yeah, so?' looks Jared received in reply goaded an explanation from him quickly. "I went through what it had recorded while I wasn't able to watch." Both women leaned forward in anticipation. Jared had paused for dramatic effect, which Noelle found unnecessary seeing as how interested she was already. "I caught video of the aliens!"

"Really?" Noelle memory of the aliens hadn't faded, but she had only gotten to see them for no more than several seconds. "Can we see it?"

"Yeah!" Jared nodded and pulled open a screen on his RIG, "I only watched the first few seconds of it. I thought you might wanna watch the rest with me." I could tell by the frame he was about to pull up a video. It started off black, the flickered to a view of a hall. It was splattered with blood and a grotesque body lay on the floor to the right, half out of frame. From the trailing handprints painted with blood and the crimson puddles Noelle knew that more than one poor soul had met a messy end in that hall. The camera's perspective was from up high on the wall looking down. Jared must have placed it in the crevice where the wall met the ceiling. For several seconds nothing happened other than the feed flickering briefly.

Noelle breath nearly caught in her throat as a large group of about ten black clad figures strode down the hall. She told herself to calm down: it was on the video. The uniforms were armored in silver and black metal. The material was pitch ebony and skin tight, but thicker than her own suit, which she assumed was for better protection. It covered them completely with helmets encasing their entire heads and looked like a dirt bike helmet without a brim. The helmets were one smooth curve from the forehead to the chin. Bands of light glowed blue on the helmets and the suits and connected to the RIG-like devices on their backs. They looked a bit like something from Tron. There were slits at the midpoint of the top of their shoulders for the blade arms.

The thinner looking material and armor on the blade arms told Noelle it allowed for more freedom of movement than protection. She shuddered slightly. The group in the video made its way down the hall from the right towards the camera. The camera panned automatically towards the movement so she could see them coming towards the body. Many gave the body a wide berth and wouldn't look at it. Others looked at it and seemed to be horrified by what they saw as they jerked their sight away.

As the camera panned again to follow the group as they walked it revealed part of the wall it was attached to. It was looking almost directly down at the floor when Noelle noticed the orange light of a locked door just below the camera. The closer they got the more detail she could see. The shapes of their bodies told her the group was made up of mostly men, but several females as well. The group approached the door and the lead alien called to the group. The others halted in response. Noelle couldn't understand the command; it sounded like the same strange language the aliens she had seen last time had used.

The leader of the group began talking to another that had stepped forward, then stepped aside for him. The one that had moved from the group to the front had a suit all his own. The suit had been modified in all kinds of ways. It reminded Noelle of some of the engineers that added things to their RIGs on their own, creating a unique looking menagerie of electronic devices and wires. Cables and strange add-ons hung and jutted from his suit so one could only wonder how he didn't get things caught on the walls as he walked with the group. The alien engineer walked straight up to the door and placed his hands on the surface. After a few seconds of contemplation he pulled out a small device and placed it on the door where it stayed, by magnets or some other means Noelle didn't know.

A screen popped up in front of the alien. Fingers dancing across the screen, he looked greatly focused even though Noelle couldn't see his face. She inwardly wished she could so she could be sure those glowing eyes were real and not imagined. After a few seconds the orange "locked" display on the door flashed red and gave off a soft alarm to signal access had been denied. She had been so focused on the aliens it had just dawned on her that they were trying to open the door.

After a few more attempts on the door the alien engineer turned to his comrades and began to talk with the leader. A few frustrated gestures at the door told Noelle all she needed to know to make a prediction on their next course of action. They soon continued down the hall after the engineer retrieved his device from the door. She had been right.

The trio was silent as they absorbed what they had just seen. Noelle could tell both Jared and Merrilee were worried, but Jared looked so much more so. He obviously hadn't seen far enough into the video to see the aliens attempts on the door, but what made him so scared now?

A thought hit Noelle as soon as she started to wonder why Jared seemed so anxious and it turned her stomach sour.

"Jared?" Noelle asked him and continued when he looked at her, "Where did you set up that camera?"

Jared's eyes flashed and several emotions flickered across his face before he answered, "Above the outside of one of the theatre doors."

"Oh fuck…" Merrilee whispered beside Noelle, verbally expressing her friend's own thoughts. They practically shared a brain at times.

"How long ago was that shot?" Noelle asked Jared. She noticed they all kept their voices low. She didn't change that.

"About a half hour ago." Jared shifted uncomfortably, like he was itching to stand up.

"We need to talk to George," Noelle said, "_Now_."

**Author's Note:** Thanks so much for reading and all the support you guys! You're awesome! Please spread the word to all your Dead Space lovin' friends. Reviews and more readers would boost my motivation. Although, I'm pretty motivated at the moment since one of my favorite parts of the story is coming up. Yeah! Thanks again. Happy reading! 3


	9. A Game of Chess

**Author's Note:** Whoo! Finally done with this chapter! Sorry it took me so long guys. School has been INSANE lately. I have three standardized tests (yes three!) next week and homework has been bogging me down, but I'm happy to say this is a long chapter. I hope to have chapter 10 up soon. I'm getting on a roll because it's finally getting interesting really for me to write (we're getting super close to one of my favorite parts). I wanted to get this up ASAP so sorry for any typos. Message me if you find anything bad. Happy reading! 3

**Chapter 9**

"We have to do something," George muttered to himself while he paced the floor, "But what is the question. We can't just sit here and wait for something to happen."

"The locks on the door held," Jared offered, "So at least we don't have to worry about that."

"I'm more worried about the things around here that don't need to undo the locks to get in." George replied without skipping a step or even looking over at the others. The whole team was there, and even some of the people that had volunteered for the power line mission had shown up. They would circulate the news of the meeting to the group for the team.

"They might come back too," Noelle tried to get George's attention.

"Exactly!" Merrilee waved her arms as if frustrated no one else had voiced the thought, "And what then? Jared and I better reinforce the locks on the door with some better walls and codes or they might come back more prepared. If they crack the code on the door it's game over."

"We need a back up plan-" Noelle started, but was interrupted by an angry voice from across the room.

"Why do we even bother with plans?" A man from the group, not a team member, demanded as he stood up from his seat, "We waste time sitting on our asses making plan after plan and then when it comes time to use it something else goes wrong and we have to start all over again. We've just been sitting here and barely clinging on, not doing anything proactive!" He looked around the room as if seeking support for his cause.

"Then what would you suggest we do?" Noelle replied evenly. She looked the man in the eyes. The kid couldn't have been more than twenty. To others he appeared truly angry, but Noelle knew he was just scared. The silence she received was as good as if he had spoken. The kid sat down in defeat and wouldn't meet anyone's eyes out of shame. Noelle sighed in absolute relief. She knew it was only a matter of time until someone lit the powder keg the entire group had become. Humor had vanished; the team had tried to keep a calm air with it by making a joke now and then. It was the only thing that kept them sane, but now the tactic had grown useless and in its place was something profoundly negative and dangerous. A dark cloud hung in the air and left hope and one's sense of humanity lost in the fog.

"There's got to be somewhere we can go to make a last stand if need be," Noelle continued and relaxed when no one else protested, " We don't know the intentions of these aliens so we need a 'plan z' room, if you will. Somewhere. Anywhere."

"Well," Jared's half-raised hand was testament to his uncertainty, "There is something like a panic room in the theatre. It's a storage room with heavily reinforced walls and doors. Very small vents. Too small for a person to fit through. It was originally built in case the glass windows in the ceiling of the theatre ever broke. It would allow people to escape the pull of the vacuum in that case."

"Where is it?" Noelle perked up at his words. _Finally some good news!_ she thought to herself.

"It's at the very back of the stage." Jared smiled a bit as he knew as well as Noelle what it meant.

"That means it'll be easier to get everyone to safety if something happens," Noelle voiced the thought they shared. The entire room buzzed with vocalized agreement and approval. "I'll be our last stand. We can start moving the sick in there tonight so we won't have to worry about trying to get them all in during an emergency.

"Let's start moving supplies in now so we don't have to worry about it later." Noelle continued.

"I agree. We might not have later. Best to do it now." Merrilee said grimly.

With another unanimous voice of agreement the group adjourned the meeting and each person was directed to a specific task. Noelle informed Jared and Merrilee that she was going to check on how much medical supplies they had left. She needed to check on the sick afterward anyway, especially William. Her friends and she shared an encouraging group hug before going their separate ways.

Noelle left the meeting room and weaved her way amongst the others surging from the room to quickly attend to their assigned duties. Climbing the side steps of the stage Noelle pushed aside the heavy curtains to make her way to the very back to where the medical supplies were stored. The thick material of the curtains surrounded her and blocked out any light from her fellow crew members' lamps. She switched on her own and made her way cautiously.

She started at the sharp clang of metal on metal sounded nearby. The curtains played with the sound until the direction from which the noise emanated was utterly indiscernible. She froze in place, her heart pounding in her chest. She only moved on when she was sure she could hear nothing moving amongst the red cliff sides of curtain around her. She finally found the stockpile of supplies and got to counting. Once that was done she took what she needed for the sick and packed it away in her inventory so she wouldn't need to carry it by hand. She felt better having her hands free at all times.

Without knowing why, while she was still on her knees crouching over the supplies, the hair rose on the back of Noelle's neck. A presence, malicious or benign she did not know, was behind her. She knew not how she was so suddenly confident of this conviction, but the feeling was as sure as it was terrifying.

Turning slowly around, visions of the twisted silhouettes of the Necromorphs flashing in her mind, Noelle looked up to see a familiar figure. Her heart leapt, her skin prickled, and her mouth went dry.

"Nicole?" Noelle barely choked out in a whisper. Her dead friend, who was supposed to be lying amongst the dead in a locked room, stood before her. Nicole was covered in blood and her skin was as white as it had been when Noelle had found her already gone from the strike of the Slasher's blade. Her eyes and mouth were pits from which a brilliant white light shone and she slumped to the side like a rag doll just barely being held upright by its owner.

"Beware the _red_." Nicole's voice echoed from every direction, ringing in Noelle's head. It seemed to come from everywhere and drowned out all other sound.

"The red?" Noelle's voice wavered and was no louder than a breath. She slowly got to her feet, but backed up, not trusting the horrifying vision before her.

"The red covers the walls and litters the hallways of our once great Ishimura." Nicole said, with not change from her facial features to tell Noelle she had actually spoken. Her form twitched occasionally, but other than that she remained still.

"Beware the _red_," Nicole repeated then said, "But the red of our fallen won't harm you. The true _Red Plague_ is soon to appear. It will start here, but will jump to another world. You must protect that world."

"What do you mean?" Noelle ventured to ask, even though it terrified her to speak.

Before Nicole could answer her with words or silence, footsteps sounded nearby and were getting louder by the second. Nicole turned to look behind herself as if to see who was approaching. With a startling hiss and sweeping motion she vanished into thin air and did not return.

Pulling her gun from its holster, Noelle stood tall and felt her heart thump in her chest like a drum. The rustling of the moving curtains alerted her to the location of the intruder.

"Who's there?" She ordered, feeling better that her voice did not quiver or waver in any way. Whoever had been approaching stopped and all fell silent, but the air was still tense. Noelle could feel eyes on her even though she could not see the watcher. It chilled her and she shivered, both from the cold and the fear.

"Show yourself!" Noelle barked. Her suspicion was growing by the second. Any normal person would have made themselves known long before now. Something wasn't right.

_Oh God,_ Noelle thought with her heart in her throat, _don't tell me they got in. Please tell me the doors held._ She didn't know whether she feared the appearance of the aliens or the necromorphs more.

A face suddenly appeared amongst the folds of curtains and Noelle immediately aimed her shoulder lamp and gun at it.

"What are you doing back here?" Noelle demanded. It was Wolfgang. She could only imagine the trouble he was up to sneaking around back here. His squat face and dirty hair was easy enough to spot, and so were his black eyes, but something was different about him.

"What's it to you, Clarke?" Wolfgang sneered back, "Don't have anything better to do than to scrutinize and order around the peons?"

"You should know pretty damn well I do more than 'order people around' as you put it," Noelle countered evenly, "I'm trying to keep these people safe so we can all survive and get out of this mess."

"If you ask me, all these people are better off dead." A smug and almost demented smile crept over the man's face. The smile of a soul that delighted in seeing violence and pain, especially when it was the source. Wolfgang turned to leave when Noelle didn't respond; she was too much in shock from his statement to say anything.

"Wait!" Noelle called for him to stop when she finally realized what was different about him, "When did you start wearing that red cloth around your neck?"

Wolfgang visibly stopped and sputtered as he scrambled for an answer. "I… um… I have a gash on my neck so I wrapped it to stop the bleeding," he said slowly, "What's it to you?"

Noelle simply stared him down as he stared back uncomfortably, looked around himself with anxiety, then shuffled off in the direction he came from. Noelle knew he was hiding something. He was wearing the cloth for a reason and she was going to get to the bottom of it. Wolfgang's nervous reaction to her question told her blatantly that he had assumed, quite stupidly, that no one would question it.

Noelle walked back to the front of the stage, nearly tripping over her own feet from her exhaustion and preoccupation with her - vision was it?- of Nicole and Wolfgang's even stranger demeanor. Both encounters had lasted only a minute or two, but had left her shaken and her mind whirling. She kneeled down next to Will to check on him. She hadn't seen him for a while and she was anxious to see if he was still holding on.

"Will?" She called softly. The man's hair was mussed from being covered in blankets and his face was paler than before, something Noelle thought impossible. Calm grey eyes opened to look into hers.

"Hi Noelle," William barely whispered, "How are you?"

"I-I'm fine." She accidentally stammered. Mentally chastising herself to push her fear from recent events out of her mind, she looked at Will and forced a smile to try and reassure him. "How are you feeling?"

"As well as one could expect," Will smiled as if he found it funny, but his smiled vanished as he continued, "But you look like you've seen a ghost."

Noelle laughed without humor and replied, "Guess you could say that."

Will's face grew serious as he listened to her, "I've never seen you so shaken up. What's got you riled?" After several seconds of intense contemplation and debate, Noelle still couldn't decide whether she should tell William what she saw.

"You can trust me. Nathaniel always did." William pulled his arm out of the blanket and took Noelle's hand in his, but she was too stunned to notice at first.

"You know my father?" Noelle asked. She received a solemn nod in reply.

"We go way back," Will said with a reminiscent smile, "He and I have been friends for years. We've been friends for so long, but looking back on it all… it feels so brief." A distant, almost look came over William's face. Noelle could only imagine the decades of memories running through the man's head.

"You can trust me," Will repeated with a warm smile, "What's got you scared?"

After a few seconds of contemplation, Noelle looked around to make sure no one was within earshot and then told Will everything. She told him about her sighting of Nicole, even though she knew Nicole was dead, and her encounter with Wolfgang.

"That damn evil thing. It shouldn't bother you like that." Will said after she was done, looking a bit irritated.

"Who? Nicole?" Noelle had considered the possibility that Nicole, or what she thought had been her, may have meant her harm, but Nicole's actions seemed to say otherwise.

"No, no, no…" Will trailed off with a weak shake of his head, "Nicole was your friend. _You_ didn't kill her. She would never hurt you."

"Then who, or what, is this 'evil thing'…?" Noelle stopped as her thoughts consumed her. _'This evil thing, it knows me.' From the song. So some evil thing that knows me is after me. But who?_ Noelle pondered wildly until it suddenly hit her.

"Do you mean Wolfgang?" She realized she was dangerously raising her voice, even though she was not much above a whisper. Much to her frustration William only responded with a roll of his head she couldn't determine to be a nod, shake, or anything indicative of an intelligent response. She realized he might be having delusions as he started to succumb to his wounds and illness. She let out a sigh, but smiled at him when he appeared confused by her sadness.

"Do you need anything while I'm here?" Noelle questioned. She absently noticed he still held her hand in his. The contact was a comfort to her nonetheless.

"Would you like to play a game of chess?" Will finally responded after she got his attention.

"A game of chess?" Noelle asked dubiously. She was sure now that William was starting to lose his lucidity.

"A game of chess," he repeated blankly then asked again as if for the first time, "Would you like to play a game of chess?"

"Sure." Noelle decided to humor him. She saw no reason in denying him such a simply request, especially in his condition. "What color will I be? Black or white?"

"The question is white or red, darling. Black is too lovely a color to waste on evil." William spoke as if it were obvious.

"What do you mean by that, Will," Noelle said his name to hold his attention, but it did no good. He seemed unaware of her inquiry.

"What color do you think I should be?" She asked him instead. Their imaginary game of chess seemed to be the only thing capturing his interest.

"White, of course." He looked at her as if she were a bit crazy not to know.

"Then you'll be red?" She asked quickly. She was beginning to follow his logic, if logic was what it could be called.

"Oh no, dear. I would never choose red, even if I was playing."

"You're not playing?"

"Well, not for much longer, dear…" His eyes turned soft and sad, and in that instant Noelle greatly questioned if he was as crazy from sickness as she had originally thought.

"If you're not, who's playing then against me then?"

He laughed quietly as if he found her lack of understanding cute, like a parent's amusement at a child's ignorance, "You don't know? Why, the Red King himself and his Knight."

"Who are the Red King and his Knight?" Noelle asked but received no response, just as she had suspected she would. She decided to move on and asked, "Well, which piece should I move first?"

"The Queen, of course. You _are _the White Queen." His eyes grew distant and his voice reverent as he continued, "The White Queen. The Queen of _Life_."

"Me?" Noelle asked in shock. _Do these chess pieces represent people to him?_ Noelle thought to herself.

"Yes, you of course."

"Well, than who are the rest of the pieces? What is Isaac?" She felt an odd urge to ask. She followed her most recent hunch and suspected other people around her may have had a place on William chess board as well.

"Ah, you speak of the White Knight who must take the Red Shield and set it back in place so he may stop the Red Army. The Red King stole it long ago."

"Red Shield? An army? What do you mean?"

"It used to belong to the White King, but the Red King warped and twisted it for his own uses." An angry scowl, the first Noelle had ever seen from William, crossed his face.

Noelle knew she would receive no response if she asked what he meant so she asked, "Why am I the Queen?"

William seemed to suddenly slip back into hysterics as he clutched her hands with both of his, pulled her close, and said with intense earnestness, "The White Queen and the Black Knight shall join together to vanquish the Red King of Death. But not before the Queen slays the Red Knight."

"The Black Knight? But I thought you said there was only white and red in this game."

"I never said such a thing!" He laughed as if he thought Noelle was joking with him. His rapid mood changes worried her. She feared he was dying.

"But you can only have two sides in a chess game." She stated. Her head was whirling so much she had to inject some sanity into the conversation.

"Exactly."

_So then whose side is Black fighting for?_ Noelle fretted mentally. She wondered to herself why she thought so highly of what William had said, but a small voice in her head told her she should heed his every word.

**Author's Note:** Well, things are getting interesting like I promised! I'm really excited for these next few chapters. Hope you guys are as spazzed out as I am. Reviews are love! Happy reading! 3


	10. Shapes and Shattered Glass

**Author's Note:** Another chapter so soon? Yes it is! Crazy huh? Well, I hope you love this chapter as much as I did writing it. I'd really appreciate reviews on how you guys think the story sounds so far. I hardly hear anything, but you guys keep reading so I assume you like it (hopefully). Also, quick fun fact: STI (Surviving the Impossible) just had its one year anniversary on the 24th of this month! Happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Noelle looked back at William to find he had fallen asleep while she was lost in thought. She tucked his arm, which had become cold from the air, back under the blankets and made sure he was warm. She stayed with him for hours as she watched his vital signs become more and more erratic and diminished. He occasionally woke, but his sanity seemed to have completely left him. His speech was incoherent and, at times, completely unintelligible.

It was about half past midnight and Noelle was beginning to tire, but she refused to leave William's side. She had taken care of him since the team had found him injured and alone in the halls, so she would never think of leave him in his greatest time of need. She could tell his time was near.

Upon awakening again, the fog that had clouded William's thoughts seemed to lift briefly. He took his arms out of the blankets and clasped both of Noelle's hands in his with a strength she didn't believe he could be capable of.

"My dear, I haven't much time. Listen to me closely." Will looked at her directly and pulled her closer even as his voice grew louder, "The Black Knight will come. He will! Don't lose hope. And once you have slain the Red Knight you must stay your weapon and yield to the Black Knight. But not before you wake the other White Queen."

"Why should I yield to him?" Noelle whispered. She was afraid and silently prayed he would answer her just this once.

"He bears the mark just as you do." William answered after a beat, but it felt as if it were an agonizing hour.

"The mark of what?" Noelle hoped she could get another answer. She feared this was straying too far from William's mental chess game for him to give her an answer. He gripped her right forearm, slipped his thumb under her sleeve, and pressed it to the inside of her forearm just below her wrist.

"The Mark of Life!" He said with reverence, "Your mark shall bring about the fall of the Red King of Death. But you must first awaken the other White Queen. She hides in his castle, waiting for you. Use your Mark to awaken her. The hidden pieces will follow her.

William fell nearly silent for several minutes, but his physical distress seemed to mount. He sweated and shivered. His face was liquid paper. The pain on his face told Noelle all she needed to know: William was dying. She tried to comfort him in any way she could. She held his hand, stroked his cheek, and simply spoke to him to let him know she hadn't, and wouldn't, leave.

"Noelle," William wheezed, "Listen to me, dear."

"I'm here," Noelle assured him, "Don't worry. I'm listening." He pulled her into a tight hug. Noelle could have swore he was crying as well, but quietly.

"Be careful, my dear," He chocked, then seemed to compose himself. His tone grew strange. It had a certain gravity to it that stirred something in Noelle. It felt as if something in her heart heard William as well.

"Hold fast to your hope," the man, so wise, said, "Never lose it. Hope is all you need."

"But I'm so scared," Noelle nearly began to cry, "I don't want to see people die. I don't want to die."

"It's okay to be scared of death, Noelle," his grey eyes spoke as clearly as his words did, "The key is not letting the fear of losing those you love, or even yourself, control you. Don't ever let your fear control you. _You_ control it. Understand?" His eyes beseeched her to hear his words and keep them.

"I understand," Noelle nodded solemnly.

"Good. Very good," William patted her cheek weakly with his cold hand, "Just do one more thing for me?"

"Anything." Noelle nodded earnestly. She felt honored to carry this man's dying wish.

"Never forget that you're a Clarke. Remember what your family stands for." He squeezed her right arm again, his hand still just below her wrist. The gesture had great meaning, even though it's exact message was lost on Noelle. What he had his hand on and his words combined to chill her spine, not with fear, but with wonder. Isaac, Jerry, Merrilee, Jared, and many others came to comfort William in his time of need and say goodbye for one last time. After a few more sleepless hours the team was forced to disperse to retain their posts as door guards. Only Isaac and Noelle remained after a time.

A few minutes before two o' clock in the morning William gave Noelle and Isaac a small, warm smile, than laid his head down and seemed to fall asleep. Noelle still held his hand and listened as his breathing became shallower and shallower.

Noelle thought about the way William had grabbed her arm, as if he was trying to tell her something. He had touched a part of her right arm that she had a tattoo on. It was her only tattoo and, most notably, everyone in her family had it as well. It was a shield with three points at the top, two from the edges of the shield and one in between them. In the shield was the Ancient Ankh, the Egyptian symbol for life, with a 'C' for her family's name intertwined with the symbol. Hovering just above the middle point of the shield was a small crown. It had a decorated band with three arches coming together to a point above the band forming a simple sphere and cross design. _The Mark of Life…? _Noelle wondered endlessly.

At 2:28 a.m., Will passed away. Noelle had detached his vital sign monitor long ago, but simply holding his wrist and putting a hand to his chest told her all she needed to know. The sound of his breath had stopped, and the room felt eerily quiet without it. Before she knew it, tears welled up in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. She tucked his arm into the blanket and pulled the sheet over his face. Isaac put a comforting hand on her shoulder, than pulled her into a hug.

"You did a great job." He assured her, "You made his last days comfortable and as peaceful as they could be in a place like this."

"I know," Noelle told him, "I just got to know him so well. He was a friend. It hurts to lose him."

"I understand." Isaac released her, "He was my friend too."

Isaac stood with her and they both faced the seats before the stage. Silence ensued as they both looked at all the other lives they had saved. This went on for a few minutes until Isaac turned to Noelle.

"I have to go soon," he looked sad but determined, "I figured out how to stop the Necromorphs. Since the Marker was dug up it was useless. If I put it back on its pedestal it will suppress the outbreak and stop those things." He spoke swiftly, as if he thought getting his point across more quickly would convince her. Or maybe he was a scared as she was.

Before Noelle could allow herself to tell him 'no' or shake her head, she put it to thought. "Are you sure there's no other way? Don't you want our help?" She offered, but knew he would refuse. She wasn't disappointed.

"This is a job for me," he shook his head, "The less people it endangers the better. I'm willing to take the risk, but I won't risk someone else's life, especially yours."

Noelle nodded her head in defeat. She knew she would never talk him out of it. The Clarke blood line had a stubborn streak that could wrap around the earth several times and still have enough left over to tie the shoes of every survivor in the theatre.

"When are you going?"

"As soon as possible." He looked at her gravely.

"Okay," Noelle gave him a serious look, "But please keep your communicator on. I need to know you're alright."

"You have my word." He gave her a small smile.

* * *

Noelle waved as she watched her uncle walking out the door. Tears threatened to flow and her stomach twisted into knots. She was so scared that this was the last time she would ever see him; alive at least. She had decided to keep William's words to herself. She wanted to ponder over them along.

"Be careful." She whispered as he turned the corner and disappeared from her sight. After a few seconds of staring off in the direction he had left, saying a silent prayer he would be okay, she headed back to the stage. A funeral was being held for William.

As many people as the stage and nearest seats could hold surrounded William wrapped body and sent him away with their tears and final farewells. Like all the other deceased, he was carried with dignity to a room and placed carefully down. People took turns laying his personal belongings and mementos of their own beside him. Noelle was given the place of honor as the last person to touch him and set something beside him.

She gingerly placed her hand on his head and cried freely as all the others did. She couldn't think of what to give him, but it suddenly struck her. William reminded her of Earth, or her family, of a time when she wasn't afraid of the dark hallways. She pulled her class ring off her right ring finger. It's blue gem glowed despite the diminished lights, just like William himself. What better belonging to give to the man who reminded her of the wonderful, peaceful life she once had, than an object that provoked the same memories.

Pulling aside the sheets, Noelle exposed his hands. He had been gone for only half an hour so his hands were still untouched by rigor mortis. She opened one of his hands and placed the ring inside, then closed it with the other clasping the hand holding the ring. Her tears struck the blanket beneath her, leaving dark splotches scattered on the cloth. With a final light touch and a final tear, Noelle stood and folded her hands together in silent prayer for William. She prayed that he, and all the others before him, found his way home.

The entire congregation stood a beat after Noelle did. Even the door guards had left their posts to pay their last respects. As the group walked out of the room and shut the door after the last stranglers had left, they realized it was one of their greatest mistakes.

The rush of bodies in response to the sound of clashing and banging metal threatened to overwhelm Noelle as she tried to keep to her feet. As soon she caught sight of the frames where the heavy metal door should have been her mouth went sour and she reached for her gun. Necromorphs were overrunning the entire room. Before she knew what she was doing, Noelle began to guide the terrified mob of people towards the back of the stage. She was relieved to see team members had already moved the sick into the room so now only the other survivors had to make their way in.

Michelle was right at the door helping people in and trying to calm those who were panicking.

"Michelle, is that everyone?" Noelle questioned her quickly. She had to help her team fight the breach.

"Yeah, everyone but the team is accounted for," the young woman was shaking and sweating, but seemed to be handling it, "You guys need to get in here while you can."

"Thanks, hon," Noelle sadly shook her head, "That was never the plan. Stay here. Don't open this door for anyone, until someone reliable tells you the coast is clear."

"No!" Michelle begged Noelle and grabbed her arm, "If you guys stay out there you'll die!"

"I know." Noelle simply nodded, pulled her arm loose, and shut the door. She made sure the lock was engaged before bounding towards the nearest Necromorph she saw. She fired rapidly and brought monster after monster to a bloody end until it nearly became a blur, but it felt like she hadn't even made a dent in the number of them around her.

She often lost sight of the other team members in the dark. Only their shoulder lamps gave her any indication as to where they were. She could feel her body weakening, which only served to scare her more. Her reflexes were slowing and her aim was getting poor.

_Dammit_, Noelle thought to herself, _if I don't pull it together I'm gonna get myself killed._ After weeks of little to no food and no sleep for the past twenty-four hours, not to mention little sleep even when she could get it, her body was calling it quits and at the worst of times.

After just having taken a shot to the shoulder by a Lurker, Noelle shot it from the wall and finished it off with a quick bullet to the head. Her head whirled from the toxin in the spike, but she pulled it out as fast as she could. Her head began to clear, but as she turned around she came face to face with an Enhanced Slasher. It was black and highly aggressive, just like the one she had seen in the hall when she had found the aliens, but they were all the same. Even before she could lift her gun to aim the beast swung its right blade and knocked the gun from her hand then swung the other and hit her with its broadside, knocking her to the ground.

Her head struck the cold metal floor and she was too stunned to move. The E-Slasher immediately jumped on top of her and tried to tear at her neck with the tendrils in its mouth, intending to kill her. Screaming and trying to shove it off of herself was getting her nowhere so she tried to make herself think. Scrambling for her gun, she took hold of it once she found it, which she considered a miracle, and smashed it in the head with a nasty right-hook.

Her vision was blurry and starting to darken when the sound of many voices struck her ears. It sounded like voices, an army of them coming from all directions, were yelling war-cries. The sound of just as many feet shook the floor. The Necromorph was still on top of Noelle, but she had stunned it considerably and attempted to shove it off. She nearly screamed in frustration when she found her arms too weak and unwilling to cooperate, but something did the job for her.

The weight on her was suddenly gone, but she couldn't see who had saved her. Her eyes were still going dangerously dark. Only vague shapes and various levels of light registered. As she laid there, momentarily taking in all the horrible screams of people and roars of Necromorphs along with the cries of the unseen army charging through the room, she could feel warm liquid running all over her body. Even in her dazed state she knew it was her blood. The sounds of guns firing and the pained growls of Necromorphs were all she could hear for what felt like an eternity, but it fact was only a few seconds.

"Are you still with me?" a male voice sounded very near her, as if it was just above her head, "Please talk to me. Can you hear my voice?" The speaker sounded extremely worried, but for the life of her Noelle couldn't remember how to answer. She felt like she was floating underwater, the swaying of everything and the diminished sound and sight. Just before unconsciousness, or was it death, dragged her under she remembered see two bright blue orbs, as if someone had held her class ring and a duplicate up to her eyes to see.

* * *

_Shit! Where am I?_ Noelle thought to herself with her first flicker of consciousness, _Oh my God. Am I… dead?_ But she couldn't be. Her whole body was still hurting and her head pounded with her pulse. She couldn't detect any light behind her eyelids and the hard surface under her made her think she may still be lying on the floor of the theatre. Soft voices wafted in the air around her, but echoed. This made her think she was in a small room so it couldn't be the theatre. The walls were designed acoustically to absorb sound and prevent echoes.

Noelle had to see where she was. Prying open her eyelids took effort and she was terrified by the result. Her eyes were clearly open, but she could see nothing but darkness. She drew in a sharp breath in her fear. What sounded like a vital sign monitor beside her began to beep rapidly. It had been at a steady rhythm and hadn't registered as anything in her foggy mind until now.

A warm hand clasped her right hand. Her skin felt so cold in comparison. She began to realize she didn't feel the freezing bite of the cold air anymore. It felt like someone had dropped her off in the tropics on a beautiful summer day. She gripped the hand in return, desperately trying to regain her consciousness fully so she could think.

"Can you hear me?" A voice sounded to her right. It was the same voice that had spoken to her as she blacked out in the theatre, "Squeeze my hand again if you can." This time, the tone was soft, but still worried. Oddly, it sounded vaguely familiar. Not wanting to worry the people who had saved her she squeezed the man's hand as he asked. Relieved sighs sounded in the room. It sounded like three to four people were standing near her feet and to her right.

Wanting to see, Noelle reached with her free hand to feel around her eyes for an obstruction. A hand gently stopped hers.

"Stay still," it was the same male voice beside her, "You're still pretty beat up."

"Are the others okay?" Noelle managed to say. Her throat felt like sandpaper and her tongue stuck to the inside of her mouth.

"We got everyone out," the man told her, "but it all depends on how they hold up. We'll do our best to save them."

Ignoring the hand that had stopped her, she pulled her left hand loose and felt around her face. Feeling a piece of cloth, she grabbed it and yanked it off.

Her eyes were immediately blinded by a bright light above her. Once her eyes adjusted she was able to see a light above her, but the design of the casing was foreign. Nothing like that of the Ishimura or even anything she had seen on Earth.

Looking over to her right, she searched for the man who had saved her life. With a short shriek Noelle bolted upright and grabbed the surface below her for support as her head swam. It was one of the aliens from the hallway! It took all her strength to regain her balance and keep herself from crashing to the floor headfirst.

"What the hell!" Noelle yelled as she raised her arms to protect herself and ended up ripping her hand out of the alien's grasp.

"Calm down," the strange man said, "We won't hurt you."

_We?_ Noelle thought. She looked around the room. She had been right; more than one alien was in the room. Two females were standing near one end of the table she had been lying on.

The blood rushing behind her ears muffled noise and her racing heart made her chest ache. All three were dressed like doctors: mostly white and sterile looking clothing. All three moved towards her with outstretched hands, as if they meant to grab her.

"Stay away!" Noelle yelled nearly hysterically. Gathering her focus and strength she leapt off the table and landed successfully, albeit a bit shakily, on her feet. A loud crash followed and something yanked on her chest and neck like leashes. Her eyes darted around until she saw to her right a vital sign monitor and an IV bag lying on the floor. The monitor had several sensors running from it to patches attached to her body under her suit. The IV tube seemed to run up her shoulder until she couldn't see where it attached to her. She realized they had fallen over when the lines were tugged from her jump from the table.

She saw she still had her suit and armor on, now even more worse for wear. Everything seemed to be in its place. Even most her bandages were still there. Her sword, communicator, and inventory section of her RIG were gone though. She spotted those on a small table by the fallen monitor and snatched them up as quickly as she could. Her belt was on in a flash and her inventory was locked into place in less than a second. Hearing the aliens approach from behind her, she whirled around and pointed her sword menacingly.

"Put that down," the male told her gently, "You don't need it anymore. We're not going to hurt you. We're trying to help you." His eyes shone blue and bright, like the gem of her ring. _So he was the one talking to me before I passed out._ Noelle concluded quickly, _And I recognize him. He's the same one that came towards me when I first found them._

Without a second thought, Noelle sliced through the IV tube, sending an unknown liquid spattering to the floor, and the sensor wires with her sword and looked around for an escape route. She was facing the table she had been on. It was in the middle of a small white room with silver cabinets on the walls and black and silver equipment scattered around. The three walls she could see, the ones to her left, right, and directly in front of her, were void of any windows or vents she could use.

Daring a look over her should she found herself face to face with a wall made entirely of glass and metal frame. A door was on the right end of the wall, farthest from her. The two females had moved to stand between her and the door, so that plan was quickly tossed out. She didn't want to have to hurt them because they hadn't tried to hurt her…_yet_. Still, she would defend herself if they tried grab her.

The blue-eyed male had stepped around the table and was extremely close; only a foot or two away. The room was not much bigger than the typical examine room they had had on the Ishimura, so space was a bit scarce. He stopped but tried to inch forward with his hand reaching towards her. Noelle screamed at herself mentally not to panic, but she was trapped.

"Don't touch me!" She yelled, backing up until she felt the glass hit her RIG. The glass rang slightly as the metal hit it. It gave her a brilliant idea.

Reaching into the seam of her suit's pant leg she produced a throwing knife from a sheath attached to her outer thigh. The two females simply shrank away a few inches, but the male seemed to realized it was a small weapon designed to be thrown for long range attacks and that backing up wouldn't help. He seemed even more alarmed now and raised his hands as if to ward off an attack.

Noelle knew he had no reason to fear; she had no plans at the moment of throwing the knife. Keeping the aliens visible in the reflection of the glass, Noelle began to carve a geometric design into the glass with the knife. Noelle ignored the confused whispers behind her. It was obviously in their alien language so she blocked it out so she could concentrate.

"What are you doing?" the male didn't approach, but seemed concerned, "You can't shatter that glass. Just come over here so we can talk to you." But Noelle was done talking. Talking seemed like a ridiculous thing at the moment. Escaping seemed like the only sensible thing to work towards. She needed to find the team and then figure out what was going on. Anyway, she couldn't trust these foreign beings who could have good or bad intentions, despite anything they said.

The pane of glass she faced went from the ceiling, wall, floor, and side of the door. It was about seven feet high and seven feet across. She started in the very middle with a circle only about four inches across, then drew a square around the circle so that at the midpoints of its four sides they touched. She completed the geometric oddity with a triangle surrounding the square and circle, it's top point facing upwards. This had only taken a few seconds for each shape. She had practiced this many times with her mother. Now she put practice to reality.

Finished, she gripped her knife firmly in her hand and etched a small star in the center of the circle. She glanced up in the glass to make sure the male hadn't tried to get closer. He still seemed too absorbed with, and plenty confused by, her impromptu art project. After the star was finished, Noelle gripped the knife by the hilt as tightly as she could and pressed the point into the center of the star. A second or two of pressing with no results started to make Noelle sweat, but just a second later a loud crack resounded throughout the room and her knife was sunk to the hilt in the glass.

Dead silence rang off the walls and in her ears, as if the crack of the glass had shattered her eardrums. More snaps and cracks began only a moment after the first as the break began to spider-web until it hit the edge of the circle. Only four trails of cracks escaped the circles and headed for the corners of the square. Leaving the square, the trails were reduced to three and ran through the points of the triangle. The trio of cracks raced along the glass until they came in contact with the frame.

Noelle released her pent up breath as the entire pane shattered in a brilliant cascade of glass shards and dust. Even before all the glass had fallen, she was out of the room and running. She found herself in a hall with many rooms just like her own with people from the group in them. Each room had one human and at least two aliens. As she ran she only got glimpses of the rooms, but saw that some people were unconscious on the tables while others, as she had done, were standing and trying to defend themselves. She saw very few of the latter.

She couldn't stop to help, as much as she wanted to, because the male that had been in the room was on her tail.

"Please, stop!" he called after her, "You're going to hurt yourself!"

Noelle only glanced over her shoulder, then poured on the speed. She made turn after turn, went down corridor after corridor, but the rooms never seemed to stop. After what felt like hours to her burning lungs and aching legs, the rooms finally started to prove unoccupied, then stopped altogether.

The long corridor she was in branched off into other hallways on either side, like a spinal and ribs. A narrow hallway to the left caught her attention and she darted into it. It led almost immediately to a wall, but curved smoothly counterclockwise until she hit a wall and found control panel of some sorts. It looked like the panels the engineers used in the Ishimura.

Her terrified flight had left her shaking uncontrollably and gasping for air. From where she stood she couldn't be seen from the corridor so she was able to stop and rest._ Alright, now what?_ Noelle thought to herself,_ I've got to think._

* * *

**Author's Note:** Yeah, sorry it was such a long chapter, but I got on a roll so this chapter turned out longer than I had originally planned. I look forward to hearing what you think of the story so far. Hope you loved it! Happy reading!


	11. Game Changer

**Author's Note: **OMG A REAL UPDATE! Sorry it took me so long! I really had to be organized for this chapter. It has so much information in it that I had to be sure everything was correct. The rest of the story would have serious plot holes if I didn't get this right. There's even more of this in the next chapter (but not as much). I know it doesn't have much action, but the next will. I'm so excited to be moving things forward again! Thank you all for your patience. :D Happy reading!

**Chapter 11**

_I need to look for the team and make sure they're okay,_ Noelle reasoned as her head swam, _I can't help all the others by myself._ It tore her heart up to know that her fellow crewmembers were in danger, but she would be overwhelmed too quickly to help anyone.

Noelle hadn't seen any of the team members in the rooms so she assumed, or hoped, that they were running around this alien ship like she was. She felt terror strike her as she thought of her two best friends, Jared and Merrilee, hurt and possibly even dead. She blanched at the very thought and prayed to God they were okay.

She pulled out her communicator and had her finger on the switch to turn it on, but stopped dead as a thought struck her. She realized this ship was completely alien and its communications grid would instantly recognize a foreign signal going through its channels. Any civilization advanced enough to travel through space would easily be able to locate her using her own signal. She needed to find a communication device on the ship so she would not be noticed, on the communications grid anyway. She would have to blend in the best she could in the halls to be able to even get near a com-device. Her own com-link would have to just hang on her belt for now.

Noelle turned on her RIG's camera so she could get a look at the damage she had sustained since she had last looked at her reflection. Her appearance was something from a bloody murder movie. She felt and looked like the final hapless victim who at any moment would fall prey to the murderer and meet their gory end. On second thought, she already looked like she had met a gory end, but the director had decided to let her live to star in a sequel.

_Damn! I look like shit…_ Noelle thought as she looked at herself. She was black and blue all over, blood caked on skin and suit from head to toe, and bandages, in all kinds of soiled states, covered only some of her wounds. All the other gashes, slashes, and cuts were gaping and oozing blood.

Movement caught her eye and made her jump. She quickly realized it was the line of the IV dangling down to her hip. Her eyes followed it up her side, past her shoulder, and up to her neck. Noelle had only caught sight of the needle in her neck for a split second before she cringed away with nausea. The right side of her neck was torn up and bloodied from the Slasher attack so the needle was placed on the left side. Her arms were still cover so she assumed they had considered it would be easier to use a vein in her neck than in her arm.

_Why does it have to be a needle?_ Noelle thought with a weary sigh. She had handled plenty of needles, being a doctor, and using them when treating patients in any medical situation was second nature. But a flipped scenario where she had to brave a needle was nearly unbearable.

It took Noelle a moment to compose herself again. Lifting a hand and gingerly peeling the tape that held the plastic-like base of the needle to her neck. It was nearly flat and hexagonal, only about a fourth of an inch wide, and laid flat on her skin. She pulled gently with a square of gauze she pulled from her inventory in the other hand to catch any blood that might escape after she removed the needle.

When the base wouldn't budge from her neck, but pulled the skin like it was somehow adhered to it, Noelle nearly puked and yelled in frustration at the same time. She knew better than to pull any harder. If she tore the large artery she would die from blood loss in seconds.

_I survived that hellhole of a ship,_ Noelle told herself, _so there's no way I'm dying because of a botched IV removal._ She knew from experience in the ER that a torn carotid artery was never something easily survived, so she wisely left it in despite her twisting stomach begging her to yank it out and be rid of the nauseating thing.

After thinking about it for a minute Noelle realized she couldn't just leave the tube hanging from her neck. It would almost surely get caught on something and get ripped out, with disastrous results. Since she had left the throwing knife with the shattered glass wall on the floor, and she didn't feel like getting gout another knife, she unsheathed her sword and used the sharp blade to slice the tube a close to the base of the IV as she could without damaging the valve that sealed the needle and kept her blood from shooting from the unnatural new opening in her artery.

Before returning the blade to the sheath at her side she held it up to her face to examine it. It appeared undamaged, which pleased her, even though it had dried blood on parts of the blade. After she removed the blood from the long double-edged sword she held it up to the light to make sure the integrity of the blade was sound. The steel blade was without a scuff or scratch and the off-white hilt of solid ivory was not cracked. The ivory was shaped like a normal hilt with a long bar coming off the blade and another bar that crossed it horizontally where the hilt met the blade. At the end of the handle was an upside down teardrop-shaped gem. The gem was polished black onyx. It stood out beautifully next to the pale ivory. It even brought out the faint shadows of the engraved coat of arms on the handle. It was an exact copy of the tattoo every Clarke had, including Noelle.

The hilt looked like the ancient ankh that was part of the tattoo. Knowing it was part of her family's long heritage, she was proud to wear the ink and carry the blade. When she saw the stark black on her skin she felt like she belonged to something bigger than herself. When she held the sword by its white ivory handle, it felt like she had an army behind her that was ready to fight any battle with her with a ferocity born of family love. Her heart swelled and she felt, even if it was just for a moment, like she could take on anything.

Despite the spike of courage, Noelle held her reason and good judgment to her tightly. This situation needed the utmost discretion and stealth. That being so, she considered that she might have to ditch her combat suit. The bloody and damaged armor was a dead giveaway that something was seriously amiss and she couldn't risk attracting attention.

She needed to find some civilian clothing that was from the ship she was on. If she wore clothes that were… well, human in style, she would be spotted quickly as well. Thinking along those lines she logically decided she would have to find a map to the ship. Running around blindly and not knowing where to go was dangerous and a waste of time.

After sheathing her sword and righting armor plates that had slipped out of place, Noelle peered out into the hallway. Looking down either end she found it empty, but she stepped out as quietly as she could nonetheless. She jumped at every little sound, afraid the male that had chased her would come back down the hall and catch her or another alien on the ship would stumble upon her.

Using the skills she was forced to learn on the Ishimura after the outbreak, Noelle crept silently down the hall the same way the alien man went. There was no way she was headed back to the area she had just been in. She decided that it must have been a medical bay. The rooms looked like exam rooms and the equipment was obviously medical in nature.

She doubted the alien male would show up again, but just to be safe she kept as quiet as possible. She reached the end of the hall quickly and saw that it forked off to the left and right in a T shape. For a second she thought she might just choose randomly, seeing as she had no idea of the layout of the ship, but she stopped herself and thought it over. The halls sounded completely quite at first, but as she held her breath and listened carefully the faint sound of voices echoed from the right corridor.

Noelle's first instinct was to head for the opposite hallway, away from the voices and prospect of running into some of the ship's inhabitants. After once again pausing to think it through, she knew it would be smart to head towards the voices. The aliens would surely have com-devices, and even maps on their persons or maybe even sent aside where a desperate refugee might easily be able to snatch it away unseen.

Taking that option she was even more diligent in keeping her footfalls quiet. After several feet the hall turned left. Noelle crept up to the inside corner and peered cautiously around the bend. The lights mounted at equal and close intervals on the ceiling cast a bright light and made it easy to see down the hallway. It was such a enormous difference from the gloomy darkness of the Ishimura, Noelle had to shield her eyes for a moment to allow them to adjust.

"Hey, Clarke." A harsh voice came from behind her, making Noelle whirl around with her hand on the pommel of her sword. Just at the opening of the hallway she had just been in stood three human men in strange RIGs. They looked like the suits the civilians had been wearing, but modified with armor that obviously did not belong on them. In a split second Noelle also noticed the red cloths they had tied around their necks, just like Wolfgang had when she caught him lurking at the back of the stage. She knew there was no way it was a coincidence.

_Pawns._ Angie thought as she stared them down.

One man with platinum blond, spiky hair stood at the head of the group. A brunette stood on his right and a black-haired man stood on his left. They all seemed fairly young; they couldn't be other than twenty-five.

"I'm not surprised you're running around the ship too." The blond looked at her with dark amusement, then annoyance. "You damn Clarkes just don't know when to give the hell up."

Noelle knew that if there was any doubt as to whether these men worked for the Osiris family it was now gone. She still didn't know what the root of this hate between her family and theirs was, but the goons in front of her were obviously involved and with the other side, so they were therefore a threat.

"Our plan won't go smoothly if you're always trying to play the hero." The brunette took a step forward and pulled a gun along with the two others, "Time to get rid of you once and for all."

"Sorry to ruin your plans, boys," Noelle drew her own weapon as well, a plasma pistol, and pointed it at the men, "But I'm not going anywhere." Her gun was a small, compact weapon used by civilians and military alike. She had an arsenal of other guns on her, but this one she carried in a holster on her belt and was therefore the quickest to grab. It was also the easiest to manage in tight quarters like the hallway.

The raven-haired man, or more like boy, in the back who looked like he barely skimmed twenty years old began to fidget. After a few seconds of twitching and shifting his weight from foot to foot quickly he caught Noelle attention. She kept the others in her line of vision, but this one was worrying her.

Suddenly the jumpy gunman took a few menacing steps forward and shakily aimed his gun at Noelle head. He fingered the triggered, making her nervous he could fire a shot at any moment. Noelle already had her gun pointed at his chest, ready to take him down if he got too close or shot at her.

"Calm down," Noelle warned him, "Don't do something stupid."

"Don't tell me what to do, you ethics-spewing bitch!" He nearly screeched at her. Noelle was momentarily taken aback by this statement, but only because she didn't understand what he meant. She must have betrayed a moment of surprise and confusion because the blond spoke next.

"If it wasn't for you Clarkes we could get on with our experiments." He shook his head and looked at her with utter disgust, "People like you hold back progress."

"What do you mean by progress?" Noelle demanded, "What's my family done that's pissed you guys off so badly?" She didn't expect an answer, but to her surprise the brunette piped up.

"You're either naïve or just dumb. Both Aegis VII incidents were no accident." The man stepped forward and held his head up, as I he was about to give her a lecture.

"Tell me something I don't already know." She retorted before he could continue.

"Wait! Why should we tell her anything?" The twitchy one turned to glare at the brunette. She was sure this man was deranged. The look in his eyes was the tip off. They were the eyes of a nervous psychotic on the razor's edge of an episode.

"Why not?" the blond, the apparent leader, said almost casually, "We're going to kill her soon anyway. And afterall, she is a member of the Osiris family's biggest and worst enemy. Maybe we can educate this little Clarke girl."

Without missing a beat the brunette began, "Why not let this morality-hugger die with the knowledge of why we are here and why we do what we do. Maybe then she can appreciate our mission."

"Just get on with it." Noelle nearly scoffed at him. The brunette did as she requested, or more like demanded.

"The very first Osiris from over two centuries ago, Lucas I, was a scientist much like the brilliant man who runs the world's largest pharmaceutical company. He did experiments…"

"What kind of experiments?" Noelle prompted when he didn't continue.

"This man had a dream," the brunette said with reverence, "A _glorious_ dream. He had spent all his life creating drugs to extend lives and relieve pain, but he always had to watch as the drugs ultimately failed."

"What do you mean 'failed'?" Noelle was confused, even a bit angry, "His drugs are the best on the market. They keep terminally ill people comfortable. They extend people's lives. In what way could you ever say he's failed?" It was true. As much as she hated the family, they ran a hell of a business.

"He could never keep people alive. Forever, at least. No matter how potent or long lasting the drug, people found a way to expire despite his best efforts." He said this with annoyance, as if it were some great fault of humankind. "As I'm sure you're aware, they still do today." Noelle failed to see the humor he seemed to try to convey in the sick grin that spread across his face for a moment. It disappeared quickly when Noelle simply continued to watch him coldly.

"His life's goal was to give humans the gift of immortality. This man, this divine entity, sought to give us every human's inner dream. You can deny it all you want, but you know that it is the pit of your soul; the core of what every person is. No one wants to die. If given the option, any person would eventually choose immortality, especially when faced with another ultimate: death.

"But Lucas knew that people would cry out against this idea. He knew those who were too blinded by what they claimed to be 'morals' and 'ethics' would never accept his vision. So he started the Church of Unitology. Not directly of course. Altman did that for him. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Before he could even consider that his dream could be a reality, he had to test it. Before he set his plan in motion he had to prove it was possible. With some… 'outside help' he decided he had enough convincing data to try a large sale test. Lucas had figured out the _secret_."

"A secret, huh?" Noelle replied cynically when the man paused for emphasis.

"We have a component in our DNA that allows our bodies to degrade. Lucas found another… species that had the component in its DNA that could replace our faulty one and give us the power of immortality. Like mixing two decks of cards, separating them, and hoping to find the original intact with only one card switched with one from the other deck. Theoretically, in our DNA this new component could do wonders. The problem was how to make this genetic exchange. So he made the Necromorphic Virus. It attacked the genetic code and rearranged it. So he hoped it would eventually switch the components under the right conditions. Or if there were enough rolls of the dice to give it a chance to happen."

"So each person on this ship was a just a 'roll of the dice', huh?" Noelle could feel her anger rise at this outrageous dismissal of human dignity, "A walking experiment to see if it worked." Despite her indignation, she held herself in check.

The brunette ignored her biting questions. "The first Aegis VII incident started when Lucas rounded up some scientists. We reverse-engineered the Black Marker that was planted on Earth for Altman to find and made the Red Marker. We allowed the scientists to examine the Marker. They deciphered the symbols and were able to make the virus, but they had no idea they were, in a way, digging their own graves.

"It ran rampant over the entire lab, killing countless scientists. We were disappointed with the results, of course. We had known many would die, but we were surprised by the fact that not one lived and was cured of their mortality. We realized the odds of the exchange was smaller than we had previously predicted. But another oddity we did not foresee, and never thought could happen, was that the Marker could be used against the virus as well. The scientists were going crazy under the influence of the Marker. We have no idea how it happened, but the Marker gave them the knowledge to build a pedestal that would amplify the suppressing effects of the Marker. They succeeded, so we intervened. The surviving scientists were killed… at least, all but one."

"Looks like Lucas wasn't as thorough and in control as he hoped." Noelle remarked with a barely perceptible smile. This seemed to goad a severe response from the trio of crazies. The expressions on their faces told her that she had insulted a man that they viewed as God-like.

"You're not in any position to insult our boss, Clarke-scum!" The twitchy raven-head barked. The blond raised a hand to silence him.

"In that one instance." The blond glared at Noelle.

"So what does all this have to do with the Osirises hating the Clarkes?" Noelle asked skeptically.

"Dr. Alexander Clarke, your ancestor, was the single survivor of the first Aegis VII incident." The brunette answered shortly.

**Author's Note:** Thank you all for your loyalty and reading this far! And I'd also like to send our a huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far. I especially needed those reviews for the motivation while I was working on this chapter. It's a bit slow and has a lot of information I had to keep track of. So yeah, a huge piece of info this time. Noelle sure was surprised! Hope you all like this chapter. Happy reading!


	12. Respect for the Dead

**Author's Note: **I've decided that I WILL NOT disable my private messaging. I've blocked all of my harasser's accounts (all 17 of them...) so hopefully this silliness will stop. I also don't like my readers not being able to contact me. Just for the record, I never called this girl stupid or insulted her. I simply told her I no longer wished to continue a discussion with her and when she kept messaging me I told her I'd report her if she continued. She then got angry and well, the rest is history.

So sorry for all the notices and false alarms lately :C Also, I even surprised myself with how quickly I turned out this chapter! I hope you've all enjoyed it so far. I think I'm writing faster because we're getting towards one of my favorite parts of my story. X3 Happy reading!

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**Chapter 12**

It hit Noelle like a swift kick to the gut. She nearly choked on the air she drew in. _So that's why they hate my family so much. My several times great grandfather was the one loose end they could never tie up._ Noelle couldn't hold back the proud smile that crept across her face.

"Lucas I, knowing he had to go large scale to see him goals met, had Altman start the Church of Unitology over 200 years ago. He needed an army, and he made himself one. Lucas saw to it that Altman won himself countless followers who were willing to do anything he asked, and since Mr. Osiris controlled Altman, he controlled every single Unitologist as well. But even then he knew it wasn't enough."

"So you had Altman killed." Noelle stated what seemed obvious to her, despite the sickening nature of the subject.

"Altman was innocent." The blond explained with a haughty snort, "He truly believed what he preached and didn't know the true goals behind Lucas' plans, which made him… disposable."

"Blind faith like what Altman preached fuels obedience and loyalty. So does tragedy. Lucas had Altman killed so the Unitologist followers would be brought to an even higher level of fanaticism." The brunette continued, "They pledged their lives to him, vowing to protect the organization they valued, that right then seemed to be under constant attack thanks to Altman's untimely demise. He gained even more influence when he bribed and blackmailed his way into control of the CEC."

"How good for him." Noelle's sarcasm was so icy one would be shocked she couldn't see her breath. The men ignored her.

"Lucas' plan would have been successful quickly." The brunette's voice grew a tone of life to it, an anger; he had been nearly deadpan before, "Your ancestor, Dr. Clarke, made it his life's goal to stop Lucas. It's because of _him_ that we've had to work so hard just to continue our experiments. Unfortunately, even after Alexander died he passed along his mission to his children. Everything he had learned of Lucas' plan was sent down the line for two centuries until what we see standing here before us today." The man crossed his arms and used a single hand to give a flippant gesture towards Noelle.

"Your family's ultimate purpose was, is still very much so is, to bring down and eradicate the Osiris family." The blond stated darkly.

"And vice versa, I'm sure." Noelle retorted. The grim smiles that swept onto the trio's faces told her all she needed to know; she was right.

"So why are you guys here?" Noelle asked with an almost casual tone, trying to play off her shock, "Why does Lucas need little minions like you?"

"We're kind of like… insurance." The blond replied smugly. "We make sure people like you don't try to stop people like us."

"So what are you planning on this ship?" Noelle asked. She knew she was pushing it, but the more information she wrung out of these three stooges the easier it would be to take them down.

"Typical Clarke." The brunette said to Noelle condescendingly, "Nosy, asks too many questions. Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat'." He punctuated his last statement by cocking his gun.

"Obviously from all your questions, you don't know as much as we thought you did. So why did they leave you out of the loop? You're of age. You're not unintelligent. You have the skills of a fighter and spy trained into you." The brunette's question was thought provoking, but Noelle refused to allow it to fester anymore in her mind.

"I don't have any training." Noelle replied shortly.

"Don't lie!" the black-haired one cried at her with a ferocity of a guard dog on a chain. "You carry that wretched sword! We saw the glass you broke!"

With a sharp gesture the blond cut off the lunatic and said to Noelle, "What he's trying to say is that no one knows how to use a sword in this day and age. No one also knows how to break glass the way you did… unless they've been trained."

"Do you know why your grandfather has been missing?" The brunette asked her smoothly.

"Maybe I do. Maybe I don't. What makes you think I would ever tell you?" Noelle stared them down. She didn't, but they didn't need to know that. Her arm was beginning to weaken from pointing the gun for so long and her exhaustion in general, but she was beginning to grow suspicious. She had a hunch there little discussion was coming to an end and it wasn't going to be pretty.

"Well, we were going to simply put a bullet through your head so we could finally be rid of a very annoying obstacle to our cause," the blond stepped forward, "but you may have information that could be vitally helpful to our plan."

"I'll never talk." Noelle was very aware that she did know things. Things they wanted. But she now had even more information her family would want to know since the Osiris idiots were arrogant enough to tell her; or dumb enough. It made her worry though. Their willingness to allow her all that information spoke of their confidence that she would not live to use it.

"Pity." The blond's facial expression was a poor mockery of genuine disappointment, "We thought we might be able to educate you and bring you to your senses. Too bad you can't be more like your dear grandmother."

Noelle knew instantly he was referring to her father's mother, Octavia. She had married Paul Clarke, so she was not born a Clarke. They had had a long and happy marriage, but the two inexplicably separated some years after they had both Nathaniel and Isaac. They did not divorce- they were still technically married- but no one had seen Paul Clarke in years. Octavia used most of her and Paul's money to buy a vested-level position in the Church of Unitology. She had been there ever since and kept to herself.

"So what are we gonna do with her?" The twitchy one grew a sadistic grin that nearly gave Noelle terror-chills.

"She's either gonna talk," the blond took a step forward with a smile to match his raven-haired partner, "or she's going to look a lot worse for wear after we're done with her."-he then addressed Noelle-"The Osiris' taught us how to do that well."

Noelle examined the men closer after that. They had hardly any injuries or even any dirt or blood on them. From that she began to form a plan that might allow her to win this fight.

"Well, I can tell you guys were taught to be pussies too." Noelle looked the men directly in the eyes and allowed it to sink in.

"What did you say?" The blond lowered his voice, but his tone lost its cruel playfulness. Now it was just dangerous.

"You guys don't have a scratch on you. You sat and hid while all of us fought those Necromorphs." Noelle's tone was short and sharp, making the sting of her words all the worse, "You call yourselves soldiers? More like little boys that hide in the corner and piss their pants whenever there's any danger."

"Little boys, huh?" The blond growled. Noelle glanced at the other men and found that the smiles had been wiped off their faces as well. The blond suddenly took another step forward, placing him only about ten feet from Noelle, and fired a shot at point-blank range.

Noelle flinched a second before the man pulled the trigger, so the bullet glanced off an armor plate on her left shoulder. The sound bounced off the walls and rebounded several times, making her ears ache. Noelle didn't even get a chance to thank her lucky stars that she hadn't been hurt. A second later the man that had fired the shot grabbed her wrist and tried to wrench the gun from her hand, but she held fast knowing if she let go it would be the last thing she would ever do.

Quickly getting her bearings, and before the other men could even react, she grabbed the arm of the blond that held his gun and put him in an arm-bar hold. With one swift motion she held his arm steady and snapped the bone of his forearm with ease gleaned from years of training. His scream rang out a half second later as Noelle easily snatched the gun before it hit the ground as he dropped it in pain. The two other Osiris followers had hardly even moved by the time Noelle pressed the man's own gun to his chest and pulled the trigger.

The other two were after her the minute their leader's body hit the floor with a solid thud. The raven-headed psycho reached her first. Noelle grabbed the gun he had pointed at her, jerked his aim away from her, then pistol-whipped him with her gun. A swift kick to the gut sent him sprawling on the floor.

Since the psycho was too stunned to get up, Noelle took the opportunity to focus on the brunette. As she turned to face him, Noelle was barely able to dodge the swipe of a force blade. A short handle with fanned blade, it had a nearly clear blade made of ions that could cut through extremely solid objects. Noelle thanked God that it hadn't touched her. Blades like that cut though flesh and bone like a hot knife through butter.

In a smooth succession of movements, Noelle unsheathed her sword, disarmed the man with a single swing of her blade, grabbed the man and his blade, than buried it in the side of his neck. Blood drenched the front of his suit even before he hit the floor. The blade clattered to the ground next him a second afterwards.

The scrape of metal and a low groan sounded to her right. The dark-haired lunatic was back on his feet, despite his newfound wobble and stagger, with his own gun in his hand. It looked like he had modified it himself. Noelle quickly sheathed her still soiled sword and pulled her own gun. She had thrown aside the blond's gun so that it was out of reach of her attackers and also so she had a free hand. She needed to be able to survive a hand-to-hand fight if it came to that.

"Clarke!" The injured man growled at her. He turned his head and spat out blood. Noelle kept her guard up even though the man didn't look stable on his feet. He suddenly sprang towards her with an ease that would have surprised anyone else not trained in combat like her. Noelle caught the man's outstretched arms, spun his around, and pinned his arms behind his back. She tried to force him to drop the weapon by jerking his arm up sharply above his head, but the determined man jerked his arm loose and tried to spin around. Noelle struggled to keep a hold of his arms. He was very strong and obviously had had training.

Knowing she had to do something quickly or she would be killed, Noelle pushed the barrel of her gun to the man's back on the left side right behind the heart, and fired. The man's body went limp instantly, but Noelle didn't let it fall. She didn't have to worry about an attack now so she gently lowered the body to the floor. She laid the man on his back, shut his eyes, and placed his hands over his abdomen. She did the same with the other two men, but did not move them other than that.

Noelle stepped back and made sure everything looked correct. She had been taught by her parents that when in combat one always has respect for their opponent, even after they have been defeated. It only seemed like the right thing to do. She couldn't imagine leaving the bodies lying disgraced on the floor, despite the fact that these men had shown no respect for her.

Her gloved hand were covered in blood from her work, but she would have to wait to clean herself and her sword later. She was just thankful her sheath only came in contact with the sword under the horizontal bar of the handle to support its weight. There was nothing worse than trying to clean the inside of a full sheath. She pulled off her gloves and put them in her inventory to toss away later, seeing that they were too torn up with too many holes to offer her any protection anymore.

Noelle didn't have time to move the bodies from the hall and felt bad for whoever discovered them, but she had to keep herself alive for the sake of her fellow survivors. She had to keep moving.

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**Author's Note:** Thanks for reading! I know there's a lot of blood in this one! Yikes! D: I smiled too today because some people have been referring to me as a 'he'. I can totally understand why a person would think a guy wrote this, because its kinda a guy video game. Believe it or not, I'm actually a girl. X3 Happy reading!


	13. Queen of Thieves

**Author's Note: **Hello again everyone! Sorry I've been MIA for a while now, but school started up again (my senior year of high school!) and I've been kind of bogged down with homework. Not to mention I think I'm coming down with a cold. XP Just saw Don't Be Afraid of the Dark today. Kinda effed up and fairly scary, but good overall. Updates are gonna be a bit slower from now on until holiday breaks. School and homework come first. Such is life. :/ Well, anyway I'm also excited because I finally got most of that girl's bogus reviews off my story. Just a few more to go. ;) Thanks for all the awesome reviews from the rest of you guys! As always, happy reading!

**Chapter 13**

Noelle walked down the hall she had previously started down before she was attacked. _Like "The Three Stooges" meets "Friday the Thirteenth"._ Noelle thought dryly as she looked back on the three men that so brazenly had planned to torture her for information and then kill her.

She paused for a second and leaned on the wall. The fight had taken a lot out of her despite its brevity. Some of her wounds had reopened from the exertion of physically fighting off the men and she had very little energy left. She added food and water to her list of things to snag.

After a few minutes of rest and trying to catch her breath, Noelle decided she needed to get moving again. She couldn't stand around while her fellow survivors needed her. She went over her plan in her head once more before she started moving. She was going to snatch the bare minimum of supplies she needed to keep going and blend in, find somewhere to change and clean up at, use the com device to contact the team, get them all together, than go from there.

With that solidified, which had only taken mere seconds, Noelle pushed herself from the wall and stood her full weight on her own two feet. She continued down the hallway toward the voices with caution. It looked different from the hallway she had been in before. The structure of the walls looked more artful, the metal was varying shades of

metallic blue and green, and the light fixtures above her looked like beautiful blown glass.

The hallway had no branching corridors and went about a hundred feet until it seemed to stop at a wall. She could still hear the faint voices, but for the life of her she couldn't figure out where they were coming from. Seeing as she had nothing to lose, Noelle continued down the hall for several feet, listening closely as the voices grew slightly louder and louder as she got nearer to the dead end of the hall.

She was halfway down the hall when she realized that the "wall" at the very end was smooth, unlike the walls that were split like paneling. There were also small pillars at regular intervals on the sides of the hall, giving it a Gothic style architecture kind of feeling. This "wall" had no pillars, so Noelle suspected it wasn't a wall at all. When she reached the dead end her suspicions were confirmed when she spotted a small panel on the right wall adjacent to the corner. A few lines of what must have been alien text were etched in silver into the black panel at the top. Individual symbols were written in long succession in sets of varying length, like a foreign cursive. Below the writing was a set of smooth silver buttons, each with an individual symbol etched in black into the metal. The set was three rows of three that made a neat square. Noelle gathered slowly that she may be standing before an alien elevator of some sort.

Seeing as the buttons might indicate different floors, Noelle studied the symbols to see if she could even remotely make sense of them, but to no avail. They were each made of multiple flowing lines that at times ran parallel and at others crossed smoothly in simple yet elegant forms. She had no way of knowing what each symbol meant, being that they were alien and she couldn't translate them. Noelle reasoned that they had to be numbers since above the buttons was the alien cursive that looked like written out words. It didn't help much though, seeing as how she didn't know what the symbols stood for or even what floor she was on.

She stopped to listen for a moment to see if she could hear the multitude of voices again. Putting her ear to the wall, they sounded as if they were coming from above her. She decided she needed to go one floor up. The question now was, what floor was she on right now?

_Is eenie-meenie-minie-moe still an acceptable decision process when you're in your twenties?_ Noelle's impulsive thought made her smile a bit to herself as she tried figure a way out of her predicament. Seeing as she had no other options… she took her odd little thought and ran with it. She hovered her finger over each button in tune to the rhyme she had known since her early childhood. After she got to the end her finger came to gingerly rest on a button. It was the third button in the second row and was as good a guess as any.

Noelle took a deep breath and pushed the button down. It didn't move as she pushed, but gave off a soft white light when she removed her finger. She assumed that meant it had understood her request.

She nearly jumped when the silver wall rolled into the adjacent wall to the left to reveal a small room. It was the same odd mix of metallic blue and green, but the back wall was not bare. A long strip when from about two feet above the floor to about two feet below the ceiling. It had to be only about three feet long. Circles with symbols identical to the buttons, but made of glass, sat atop one another in a neat vertical row. Noelle quickly noticed that read from bottom to top they followed the buttons on the panel outside if one read them from left to right like one would read any normal book.

The entire strip was lit with a white light, but one symbol was lit in a bright blue. Noelle turned to find it on the panel. By some great coincidence, or was it just dumb luck, the lit circle had the same symbol as the button to the left of the one she had touched. This led her to believe she had actually chosen the next floor up correctly. Stepping on cautiously, she watched as the blue light left the circle and then moved to enlighten the circle with the symbol she had chosen.

A soft tone sounded and the door slowly slid closed. For a split second Noelle was seized by the grip of claustrophobia. As she grabbed the side of the wall for purchase as her legs went limp, her mind was bombarded by a flashback. She could only watch in horror as her mind replayed a memory from one of the first days of the Outbreak. She had been riding an elevator to get back to her room and make a run for safety when one of the Necromorphs burst through the ceiling of the lift and tried to maul her. It was a civilian Slasher and it was alone, but being confined in a small space and with no where to run, Noelle was terrified and nearly defenseless. She just barely held it off until the doors opened and another survivor saved her. She had gone straight to her quarters, gotten her sword, and hadn't put it down since.

When she came back to reality Noelle found herself huddled on the floor, leaning against the wall. She was shaking and sweating from her memory-induced terror. Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes, but she blinked them away quickly. She sucked in a sharp breath as if she had been suffocating, and than released it with a shudder. It felt like the air had dropped from warm and comfortable to a frigid chill like that of the Ishimura in it's final weeks. Teeth chattering, Noelle wrapped her arms around herself not only in an effort to warm herself, but in a desperate need to hold herself together.

An eternity later, or so it seemed, the cold vanished as if it were nothing but an illusion. Noelle soon realized that it had been just that: an illusion… or a horrible hallucination. With her sense starting to come back to her, Noelle became determined that there was no way she was going to let her fear take her down now. She had escaped death for an entire month. She had fought and so she would continue.

She took stock of her surroundings and found that they were the same as before she had had her temporary mental meltdown. Noelle realized with relief that the episode had only lasted a few seconds. She had watched over the past month as other survivors had fallen to dementia and their fits would usually last for hours. They often tried to harm themselves or others, and usually screamed and lashed out at invisible terrors and monsters.

As far as Noelle knew she hadn't screamed or tried to hurt herself. No one was around to harm so that was a moot point. _You've made it this far and kept your sanity in tact, Noelle,_ she told herself calmly, _You can do this. Just keep it together._

A few moments after her mental pep talk, the wall in front of and behind her slid open and remained that way. Noelle straightened up with an frustrated grunt, but allowed herself a moment to press her forehead to the cool smooth wall she had just been leaning on. After a few calming deep breaths, she righted her suit, stood tall, and pushed the whole incident to the back of her mind as if it had never happened. She could only hope it wouldn't rear its ugly head again, but if it did she would deal with it then.

Seeing that she now had access to two hallways, Noelle listened closely to see if she could hear the voices again and confirm she was on the correct floor. Sure enough, the doorway that was behind her produced the sound she was waiting for. The walls of both hallways were extremely well lit with the same elegant and artful fixtures on the ceiling at regular intervals. The walls were no longer muted shades of blue and green, but bold and bright shades of the same colors. The most striking difference between this new hall and the one below was the dominant color she was now slapped in the face with. Purple chased and danced with the smaller flows of green and blue. They formed swirling and waving paths along the walls that made Noelle think of the ocean. It was beautiful.

Shaking herself from her deep observations, Noelle realized she had spent too much time standing around. She loved appreciating architecture and art, but she had far bigger things to worry about. Despite her loitering the elevator doors remained patiently open, much to her relief and appreciation.

She stepped off the lift cautiously, trying not to make noise or draw attention. She was a foot or two away from the elevator when the doors shut almost noiselessly.

Noelle stood still and listened carefully again as she walked to determine how close the source was. As she moved she could see a hallway branched off on the right side of the corridor. Pressing herself to the right wall as she neared it and the sounds increased in volume and clarity, she copied her technique from back on the ship when she first found the aliens in the Ishimura.

After a deep breath, Noelle peered around the corner slowly and took in the sights of the new hall. It was a bit wider than the one she was in, but bore the same colors. It came to a dead end after only about twenty feet, but it held much. Long vertical metal containers that resembled the lockers on the Ishimura stood in a neat row on the right wall. Each was a metallic silver and stood slightly taller than Noelle. A lit square, large enough to place a hand on, was set into each locker two-thirds of the way up. Many were lit red, but one or two out of about thirty lockers had panels that were blue.

She looked to the left and saw a silver door with a split down the middle, near the end of the hall. It lead Noelle to believe that the two panels separated to open, unlike the single panel of the elevator. A silver screen with more flowing alien symbols hung above the door. The symbols were black and stood out against the pale silver well. About a foot farther to the right of the door was a large window. It had to be at least six feet across and four feet tall.

_Wow, these people have a thing for big windows._ She considered briefly. She turned away from the window when she could only see a white wall through it from where she was standing.

Seeing that no one was in the area, Noelle walked along the lockers to examine them more closely. She tried to open one, but couldn't find a handle or a button. She ran her hands down the front of it, searching for anything that might open it, when she touched the glowing panel. It flashed white for a second, returned to red, but the outline of a hand was visible afterward. Taking the hint, Noelle pressed the palm of her hand to the lit panel and waited. To her disappointment, it flashed white and went back to red as before.

She was stumped, but only for a moment. Moving to one of the blue paneled ones, she repeated the action and was rewarded when the front of the locker popped open by an inch or so. She opened the door quickly and searched through the contents. She found an array of items, many of which she didn't want to touch for lack of knowing what they were for. A set of what looked like clothing hung from a prong in the back and a small silver device sat on a shelf at the top. She took these items in hopes they were clean clothes and a communications device. She also found a small metal case next to the device that she tried to pop open. Hoping and praying it might be a med-pack, her luck suddenly returned when against all odds she found a white roll of gauze-like material and a bobbin of what she hoped was tape to secure it.

Noelle quickly and quietly shut the door and cringed when it clicked shut loudly. She wheeled around to make sure no one had heard and had come to investigate the noise. The window wasn't directly behind her, but it was still too close for comfort. With the window's size and the lack of cover in the room she was in she could easily be spotted by one of the aliens, or even worse; some Osiris goons. When she looked through the window she started and nearly ran at a full sprint back to the hall.

Numerous aliens were peering down at tables and desks, singly or in small groups, around a large room. The walls were white, but were barely visible under the many signs and posters adorning the walls at almost every point. Strange instruments, the functions of which Noelle could barely begin to imagine, were scattered across the table tops and large devices that could have been computers sat atop the smaller desk-like tables. Chairs, sleek and grey and blue, separated the desks from the tables. In not so many words, it looked like a laboratory.

Each of the aliens wore a white suit with black and blue accents, giving the room a feeling of both sterile professionalism and tasteful charm. They all were so intent on their work, observing and recording data, that none of them had seemed to notice Noelle. She planned on keeping it that way.

Noelle walked with haste, but carefully enough as to keep her feet quiet, back to the hall and headed to the right, away from the elevator. All she needed now was a place to hide and safely change into the clothes she found. She continued down the hall, keeping her eyes peeled for an open door or a new hallway. For about a hundred or so feet she could find neither another hallway or a door. She found one other large window, just like the one in the locker hallway, that offered a similar view as the previous. Noelle wisely darted past it, but soon she came upon another open hallway going to the right.

The hall only lasted a few feet before it met- who could have guessed?- another silver door. A silver screen, just like the one above the alien lab's entrance, stood out from the wall above the door, but with different symbols. A small panel shining light blue, like the few on the lockers, was inlaid in the wall to the right of the door. After pressing her palm to the panel the door promptly slid open. If Noelle hadn't been in as bad of shape as she was at the moment she would have smiled to herself, relieved that she was beginning to figure things out.

Noelle hid around the door frame and peered around the edge to look into the room. It looked strikingly almost just like a normal bathroom.

The walls were the same blue, green, and purple montage of light metallic colors. To the left were what looked like sinks and one large mirror. The mirror ran lengthwise along all five sinks. It was silver and flat, like just about any mirror she had seen before, except that it didn't have any edges to it. The silver seemed to just rapidly fade into the blue-green metal of the wall as if an alien artist had skillfully applied it with a paintbrush.

The sinks appeared to be carved from a navy blue stone, marbled like granite. The fairly deep bowls, shaped like the fat bottom of an egg, sat atop gracefully curving slender pillars with flowing swirls expertly carved into the sides. They were shaped in such a way that they gave the illusion they had come growing like great beautiful stone flowers from the floor to stretch around the sides of the bowl. Behind each sink on the floor appeared to be a funnel, about a foot high, carved out of the same strange blue stone with the same artful design as the sinks. It's purpose was lost on Noelle.

To the right along the other wall was a row of what she assumed to be bathroom stalls, except instead of walls there were long curtains. U-shaped silver rods, ends coming from the wall, encircled each of the little areas she assumed housed a toilets. The curtains that hung from them were a dark blue to match the sinks, but each had a single wide black flowing stripe running horizontally across them. The rods almost touched the ceiling, and the bottoms of the curtains skimmed the floor by an inch or so.

All in all the architecture grabbed Noelle despite her preoccupation. Try as she might, she couldn't seem to find a straight line anywhere. The smooth and almost liquid organic shapes were very pleasing to the eye, so much so that it took her a moment to remember to step inside the room since the coast seemed to be clear.

She stepped in quietly, nearly jumping when the door closed behind her, and made her way to the curtains, both to satisfy her curiosity of what was behind them and to make sure she was truly alone. The curtains hung from the rods with little silver metal rings, making the curtain easy to slide aside. She found what looked like a regular toilet, except blue stone like the sinks and more elegant looking, and a roll of what looked like light brown toilet paper attached to the wall on a small silver rod.

She closed the curtain gingerly and checked every other stall, finding the same sight in every one. She was alone and safe- for now- in this strange, foreign bathroom. She noticed as she darted for the sinks that there was another door on the wall opposite to the one she had come in through. She made her feel a bit better to know she had more than one escape route should one be blocked. More exits meant more possibilities for flight in a pinch.

Noelle walked up to the sinks and examined them. There was a small silver disc at the bottom of each. Every sink had a spout at the back, pointing downward towards the funnel on the floor. The spout was near the top edge of the bowl of the sink so Noelle made a guess that it kept the water from overflowing. Good to know. As she looked behind the sink she could see it had another spout pointing to the funnel like the other, but situated lower where the bowl met the pedestal. Now, if she could only find a way to turn on the water she would be in business.

She looked all along the sides of the sink but found nothing and there were no levers or handles around it. That only left the silver disc. Reaching into the sink she tapped the metal. A moment later it transformed by extending into a tube, about two inches long, and began to push out water, or what she hoped to be water, straight up like a mini fountain. It stayed within the confines of the bowl and filled it quickly.

Noelle watched as the water level rose until it came about a half inch from the brim, making her fear for a moment it would overflow and splatter the floor. Thankfully, the water began to flow through the upper spout and made a graceful arch into the funnel below.

Noelle stared at the sink for a moment, her fatigue making it a bit hard to follow what she was supposed to do next. Since she had no idea what the substance was that had just filled the bowl she decided she wanted to keep her skin and avoid anything caustic. She pulled out an small device from her RIG, a probe, and dipped the end into the liquid. In only a moment a screen from her RIG's display gave her concise, but very helpful, information. It was water. H2O. Dihydrogen monoxide.

Noelle still felt wary though. She tried to shake it off, but since it was an alien ship it could be laced with anything and the probe she was carrying wasn't sensitive enough to detect trace substances being that it was quite old. It made her regret she had never bothered to get a new one, but at the time it didn't seem helpful since the maintenance workers always made sure the whole Ishimura had clean running water 24/7. She experimentally dipped a single finger into the liquid to test to see if it was safe. It felt cool and didn't burn. When she pulled her hand back her skin was unmarked and she felt fine.

Seeing as it seemed safe, but not wanting to take chances, Noelle submerged her left hand into liquid. She was right-handed so it stood to reason she would risk her non-dominant hand sooner than the other. Se paused to feel the liquid. Cool, refreshing, inviting. She couldn't hold back a small smile. It almost made her want to cry. She instantly felt stupid for being overwhelmed by such a simple thing when she had been through so much, but she soon realized its simple quality was what elicited her reaction. For a month now she had been in constant fear and danger. She had been getting little to no sleep and food. She hadn't slept in at least twenty-four hours and food hadn't come her way in days. She was in pain, not that she would admit it, and had been for some time.

This simple little thing, water, was now a luxury to her. She hadn't had to sneak down a gory hall and fight off monsters to get a bottle or two of warm water from an old storage compartment, then run back praying nothing attacked her while she had her arms full and was vulnerable. She had just simply touched a silver plate and cold, clear H2O was given to her by the sink-full. It was so unimaginably easy.

Noelle faced her reflection in the mirror, knowing it wouldn't be much better from what she had seen in the little round-a-bout corridor with the panel. Actually, it was worse. The mirror was flat and crystal-clear, especially compared to the dull reflective metal from the corridor. It didn't even really look like her face anymore. Every scratch, smudge of blood, and bruise could be seen in high definition on the face staring back at her. She could hardly find herself under all the wounds and dirt. Her eyes had deep and dark shadows under them and her face had even thinned out noticeably. She looked hollow, even from her own perspective. She didn't like what she saw so she looked away and got to work.

Noelle took the med-pack, com-device, and clothes from her RIG and set them on a ledge jutting from just below the mirror. She gingerly peeled back a flap of fabric from her right arm to uncover a large wound that was bound the best she could have at that time. The gauze was brown with dried blood and felt stiff. She knew this was going to hurt so she gritted her teeth, gripped the sink, untied the bandage, and began to pull it away. The pain was searing, but she ignored it the best she could and didn't stop until the bandage was free from her skin. The wound was gaping red and inflamed.

Seeing as she had no antiseptic or anything of that nature she scooped some water from the full sink with one hand and gently poured it on the gash. It stung, but it made it feel better a few seconds later. She scrubbed with her nails around the wound to clear away dirt and dead tissue. After a few minutes it was somewhat clean and it was the best she could do so she quickly wrapped it with the new gauze she had found and moved on to the next injury. After a few minutes, as she worked on wrapping up the second wound something in the back of her mind told her a soft sound had come from her left, but it was so infinitesimally vague and she was so focused on her work she ignored it.

Turning to the third she began to ease off the bandage. It was on her left arm and hurt like hell, but she did it anyway. She had to get it cleaned up so she would have a bit more ease of movement.

As the gauze came off, blood started to seep from the wound and pool until it began to drip down her arm and onto the floor in only a few seconds. A quiet, but sharp gasp came from her left, making Noelle whirl and drop the roll of gauze as she raised her hands to defend herself.

In the doorway of the bathroom stood three female aliens, all peering at her wide-eyed and shocked. Noelle hadn't heard the door open, or she had and she had not noticed it. Once the trio seemed to get over their initial surprise their brows dropped in what Noelle thought might be concern and horror. They had on lab suits identical to the ones the aliens in the room she had seen across from the lockers had had on. Their eyes were so wide they were nearly perfectly round and appeared brighter, making their pupils slightly more pronounced than usual. They looked like three glowing-eyed owls huddled together on a branch.

The one in the middle stood slightly in front of her companions. She had bold violet eyes, the color of a bright summer flower. She was a bit slim and tall. _Very _tall. She had to be near six feet in height.

The one to the purple-eyed one's right was much shorter, closer to Noelle's height. She had eyes as strikingly yellow as the sun; warm and radiant. She was stouter and heavier in build than the first, but still held a strong sense of beauty.

The third and final was as short as the second, but very wiry and thin. Her eyes were a pale and placid sea green, like that of a shallow pool of ocean water, cut off from the turbulent waves by an outcropping of rocks. They were calm and peaceful eyes, despite the fact the face was anything but.

"You're bleeding!" The one with the violet eyes exclaimed with a mix of horror and panic. She seemed to shake her nerves quickly though, being that she took a few steps forward and gestured towards herself, as if entreating Noelle to come closer. "Come here. Let us help you."

Noelle had nearly jumped out of her skin when she spotted the trio. Now she was even more terrified. She was trapped _again_ in a confined space with multiple aliens who claimed they only meant to help. Taking more steps backward than the purple-eyed one had taken forward, Noelle made it clear she wanted them to stay back when she palmed the pommel of her sword.

"Easy," the curvy yellow-eyed female almost cooed, "We're not going to hurt you."

"Let us help you wrap that." The green-eyed female said and seemed saddened when her offer was replied to with silence. Noelle could only swallow hard and barely divide her attention between all of them as she tried to keep a sharp eye on each one.

"What's your name?" The tall one asked with a small smile. Noelle instantly noticed the female's change of tactic. She remained silent only because she wanted to see if these aliens were trustworthy.

After a beat or two when Noelle didn't answer the same female tried again to engage Noelle in conversation, in what Noelle saw as an attempt to put her at ease, "My name is Thren."

"Hi honey, I'm Dendri." The curvy one with the yellow eyes gave her a warm smile and a little wave. The tone and gesture was like a mother talking to her child; soothing, but not patronizing.

"And I'm Maris." The one with the sea-green eyes spoke last. She spoke just as kindly as the other two.

Noelle was dumbstruck that they had been nice enough to introduce themselves first before trying to come near her. Now it was her turn to stare at them with wide eyes. For a moment she couldn't remember how to speak, let alone what to say in response. She was moved to talk though when she saw the look of disappointment seep onto each of the alien females' faces.

"I…" Noelle had to think for a second before she continued, "I'm Noelle." She nearly smiled herself when each of the females' faces lit up at her response. Her lack of silence seemed to make them happy.

"Hi, Noelle." They all said in near unison, their faces beaming.

Noelle actually began to relax a bit. That is, until the yellow-eyed one, Dendri, looked over and spotted the items Noelle had set on the mirror's ledge.

"Hey, is that my stuff?" Dendri asked with utter surprise.

Noelle could only think one thing. _Oh shit._

**Author's Note: **So, looks like Noelle is making some new friends… hopefully. This chapter is one quite longer than my previous ones. I noticed they were getting a bit short so I put more in this chapter than I originally intended to. My views for this sotry have been way up lately so I'm just thrilled! :D As always I appreciate your reviews and feedback guys! You're all awesome! Happy reading!


	14. Here Comes the Cavalry

**Author's Note:** I'm SO SORRY I haven't updated in FOREVER! School has been nuttier than a can of Planter's and I've just kinda had writer's block a bit on this. I cured the writer's block by watching some Dead Space trailers and I've started a piece of fanart for the game in my art class. I'll link you guys to my deviantart page when I post it (when I finally get it done). I'm also going to start shortening the chapters so I can update more quickly. These 3,000 to 4,000 word chapters are a pain with school and a second fanfic on my plate so I'm going to shorten them to 1,000 to 2,000 words. Sorry, I know it will be less, but it won't take me months to get one stinking chapter out from now on. So, without further ado, here is chapter 14… FINALLY! Happy reading guys!

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**Chapter 14**

"Where did you get that stuff?" Dendri asked, a bit of suspicion creasing her face.

Noelle couldn't even think of what to say as a wave of guilt and fear rushed over her; it took her a minute to resurface. She felt horrible that she had resorted to stealing from people. She had felt no guilt before, but after having to come face-to-face with the person she stole from, it truly hit home.

"I- I'm so sorry!" Noelle stuttered. She began to eye the long blades on the extra arms on each alien nervously. She feared they were angry with her and might harm her, and just after she had started to slightly trust them.

"What do you mean?" Dendri questioned, looking more worried than suspicious now at Noelle's sudden fearful look.

"I found it in a locker." Noelle explained nervously, barely able to hold eye contact. Her eyes kept sticking to the items she had nabbed and only glancing at the trio of women before her. "I needed it. I didn't think- I mean, I just…"

She wasn't sure of their intentions before and now she was even more afraid of what they might do next. Thinking fast she scooped up the clothing, com-device, and what was left of the med pack in her arms and took a few quick steps towards the aliens. She set the items on the floor and swiftly skittered back several paces so she was even farther away than she had been only minutes ago.

One hand on her blade and the other tight with nervousness at her side, Noelle continually glanced back at the other door. She kept the women in her line of sight. She had forgotten she was no longer on the Ishimura and had stolen from someone; an alien at that! Now they might make her pay for her crime.

_ How could I be so stupid!_ Noelle thought to herself angrily, _I gotta get out of here or I'm toast._

A short silence, but what felt like an eternity, passed before Noelle heard the same alien woman, Dendri, speak.

"Aw, hon, it's okay." Noelle heard her say along with the sound of feet. She looked up just in time to see Dendri walking towards her with outstretched arms, closing in fast.

Noelle tried to duck out of the way, but Dendri was too close and too fast. Before she knew it, Noelle was caught in a tight hug. She let out a short and sharp yelp and tried to escape, but the woman held her fast. She expected to be cut and slashed at any moment by the sharp blades on the small arms just above her head, but when nothing happened Noelle cracked an eye open. Dendri's head was slightly above hers, proving Noelle earlier assumption that all three women were taller than her.

"See, I don't bite." Dendri smiled at her warmly. Her strong arms were wrapped around Noelle's, pinning them to her sides. Noelle could still feel her heart pounding in her chest, as if it too wished to escape the unexpected hug just as badly as she did.

"Dendri, I think you're scaring her." The tallest, Thren, commented with a hint of humor.

"Yeah, she looks like she's about to… what is it the humans say? 'Freak out'?" The wiry one called Maris followed. She let out a soft laugh. Noelle didn't fail to notice it sounded… normal. Their English was a bit halting and awkward though.

"Oh, nonsense!" Dendri turned her head away from her friends and looked at Noelle, "You're not afraid of me, are you?"

Noelle opened her mouth slightly to say something, but nothing came out. She couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't hurt their feelings… or seriously piss them off.

"Don't feel bad." Dendri reassured Noelle, "Just ask next time. If you need help we'll be happy to give it."

After her thoughts began unjumbled and she could think straight, Noelle simply said, "Thank you." She could feel a small smile tugging at her face. Relief flooded through her as she saw wouldn't be harmed. These aliens were rather… friendly.

"What I don't understand is why you're injured and you're wandering around the ship." Thren commented.

"True!" Dendri looked around to answer Thren, then looked at Noelle, "The doctors would have never discharged you from the medical deck if you looked like this."

There was a tense pause as all three looked at Noelle, as if trying to solve a riddle that they had never seen before.

"Did you run away?" Thren said with worry, but not shock when she caught sight of the IV still stuck in Noelle neck. It was as if it upset her, but came as no real surprise.

Dendri lifted a hand towards Noelle's neck, as if to touch the IV, but Noelle jerked back and tried to free herself from Dendri's hold.

"Please, let me go." Noelle's voice was taut and low with fear. They were going to drag her back to the medical deck. She just knew it. Or, at least, they could try.

When Dendri still didn't release her, Noelle's vision started to fail her. Images of a Slasher holding on to her and attempting to stab her or snap at her neck flashed before her eyes. The pictures were brief and flickering, but nonetheless terrifying. It was almost like the episode from the elevator. She could feel her pulse in her neck and her breaths came faster and faster. She forced herself not to panic, and since she was more prepared to handle another flashback she was able to hold herself in check.

"Noelle, what's wrong?" The sound of Thren's voice and the calling of her name shook the images loose from Noelle's mind. "Let us call the med deck for you. They can help you. Don't be scared."

"Let me go. I have to get out of here and find my team." Noelle said, then repeated and repeated when Dendri didn't let her go. Thren walked over and picked up the com-device to use it. Noelle started to try and pry Dendri's hands loose, then tried pushing her away when that didn't work.

"Calm down, hon." Dendri's voice held a hint of panic.

"Chill, girl." Maris said, walking towards Noelle and Dendri. "We just want to help."

"You're not listening to me. I don't need your help!" Noelle said more forcefully, even getting slightly angry. "I don't have time. I have to help my team. There are people on this ship that want to kill me and the other crewmembers and if I don't stop them we're all gonna _die_!"

"What are you talking about?" Thren gasped.

"Don't be ridiculous," Denri looked concerned, and Noelle suspected it was more about her mental health than what she had said, "No one's out to kill you. You're safe here."

"You're not listening to me," Noelle was starting to become exasperated. She almost continued and warned them that these men were killing witnesses, but she realized in telling them that she was putting them in the crosshairs of a war they didn't belong in. This war had gone on long enough, and Noelle saw no reason to drag more innocent bystanders along for its final battle.

"What are you not telling us?" Thren asked, staring Noelle down. She had obviously caught the hesitation in Noelle's voice and wondered what was wrong.

"Come on, hon" Dendri started to pull her towards the door, "We're taking you to the hospital and you need to tell the ship officers where your friends are so they can help find them too."

"Wait a damn minute!" Noelle's spinning mind came to a standstill at hearing Dendri's words, "How many others have escaped besides me?" She had been prepared to charge back into the medical area, guns blazing to rescue her team and as many crewmembers as possible. She hadn't really considered many others had been as lucky to be roaming free around the ship as she was.

"At least ten now since you're here," Thren said slowly with apprehension.

_That means the entire team could be out. _Noelle thought quickly, _It's not likely they're all free, but at least a few surely are running around. Well, now I think it's time I started looking for them._

Thinking fast, Noelle abruptly collapsed her legs and allowed her weight to fall to the floor, breaking Dendri's hold. Before the alien woman could even react Noelle was back on her feet and darting to the other end of the room.

"Stop!" Thren called after her, "Let us help you!"

"I don't need your help!" Noelle called back over her shoulder as she made a dash for the other door. She tried to find a panel to open it with like the last one, but could find nothing.

_Shit, shit, shit, shit!_ She kept thinking as she desperately searched for something to open the door with; a button, a knob, anything.

"Is everything alright in here?" A familiar voice sounded from the other side of the room just after the swish of the door opening could be heard, "I heard yelling-"

Noelle turned just in time to see a blue-eyed alien male halt dead in his tracks and stop midsentence when he saw her. She startled violently when she recognized him instantly; it was the same male from the hallway in the Ishimura, the theatre, and the foreign medical room.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Noelle didn't yell, but her voice was harsh enough to call attention to herself.

"Oh my God." The blue-eyed male was staring at the floor where Noelle's blood had scattered from her freshly reopened wounds. He then looked up at her with anxiety.

"What happened?" He looked to the alien women for answers.

"We found her changing her own bandages." Thren explained carefully as she watched Noelle, as if that would keep her from bolting the first chance she got, "She started bleeding when she tore off the gauze and tape."

"Noelle, this man is a doctor so he can help you." Dendri implored her, "You shouldn't be afraid."

"Did you say 'Noelle'?" The man asked. He looked surprised and thoughtful.

"Yes." Dendri assented, "Why?"

"That name…" he paused and seemed to think hard as if trying to remember something, "rings a bell." He said the phrase like he was trying it out for the first time; awkward and a bit unsure. Speaking of ringing a bell, Noelle could have sworn just as the alien man spoke that phrase she heard what sounded like two chimes of a small bell; one very close and one very far away. The sounds seemed to come from nowhere, like phantom noises that trick the brain and ears, but they rang deep in her chest. They were _not_ imagined, but they _were_ something profound and important. Something deep inside her, deeper than the pit of her chest in which the sounds had buzzed, told her they were unfathomably important.

"What's wrong?" the blue-eyed male asked her. Noelle didn't answer him. She was staring off at the wall to her right, sensing that was the direction from which the distant chime had come. She was thinking, but not about the chimes. As long as she had them fooled that something had caught her attention they would probably stay away. While they were distracted by her supposed worry she could think up a way to escape.

Noelle knew she couldn't make it to the door she had come in through. She was normally much faster, but her wounds hampered her enormously so any four of them could easily grab her before she even made it halfway across the room. It had to be the second just behind her, but how to get it open was the question.

_Maybe I could_- Noelle started to think when a familiar voice, a human voice, rang out from what sounded like behind the door.

"Fire in the hole!" the male voiced boomed not once, but twice. All reaction, like a learned reflex, Noelle dove to the side and away from the door. She covered her face and her ears rang with the deafening explosion that followed. She looked up in time to see the door that had stubbornly blocked her escape come crashing to the floor in a pile of dust left over from the detonation.

A cloud of debris consumed the new door-shaped hole for a few seconds before a hazy figure appeared. Coughing and waving his arms to disperse the smog, Jerry trotted into the room exclaiming, "And the cavalry has arrived!"

"Noelle!" he exclaimed with delight when he saw her, "Thank God you're okay!"

"Jerry!" Noelle could feel a big smile on her face. It felt like she hadn't smiled in real relief or happiness in forever. "How did you find me?"

"No time to explain," Jerry glanced with alarm at the aliens across the room, "We gotta go!" With that he grabbed her wrist, helped haul her up off the floor, and dashed her out of the room.

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**Author's Note:** So, I hope that was well worth that super long wait. Like I said, I wouldn't stop writing for this story without telling you guys. I don't like to leave people hanging. ;) Our little blue-eyed crusader is back (much to Noelle frustration may I add) and Jerry, the bomb-making wonder, has swooped in to save the day. Could use some inspiring reviews to keep the chapters flowing ;) Thanks a bunch for all the support so far on this fanfic guys and if you're a Transformer fan you can check out my new one. You guys are the best! Happy reading!


	15. Written in Blood

**Author's Note:** Oh my gosh, I finally got this done! Sorry to keep you guys waiting for so long, but I promise this chapter was worth the wait. You'll get some much needed info and of course lots of blood, sweat, and tears. I put that into this fic and that's what will come out. In a couple of chapters shit really hits the fan so be looking forward to that. Unfortunately, I won't be able to update for a few weeks or even really work on this the coming week or so since I have some exams I really need to be prepared for, but rest assured I'll update when I can. Happy reading guys!

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**Chapter 15**

Still grasping her by the wrist, Jerry half dragged, half led Noelle down a maze of halls and corridors at a breakneck pace she could barely keep up with. He spotted a recess in a wall with a partition and pulled her behind it.

"Are you okay?" He asked her while he peered around the partition to make sure they hadn't been followed.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She answered with a bit of difficulty. She was panting from the exertion of their flight. "Are _you_ okay?"

"Sure am." Jerry turned from the hall with a huge smile and wrapped Noelle in a tight hug. "I'm just so happy I found you before those monsters could hurt you." Noelle welcomed the embrace. Jerry's southern drawl, humanity, and familiarity were a potent balm to her frayed nerves.

"I don't think they were going to hurt me, Jerry." Noelle let go and looked him in the eye. "At least… I hope not. I'm not sure. But that's not the reason we should keep away from them."

"Why?" Jerry was a smart man, but this seemed to stump him.

"Remember Wolfgang?"

"That weird fella? How could I forget?"

"He's the cause of all this."

"What d'ya mean 'all of this'?" Jerry's face started to dawn with understanding.

"Short version? The Outbreak." Noelle confirmed the suspicions she saw on his face. "And the Aegis 7 incident. Well, his family caused it anyway."

"Sweet Jesus. Are you serious? How is all this connected?"

"Damn you ask a lot of questions." Noelle teased and they both shared a fleeting laugh. "It's a really long story." Noelle peered down the hall in her own fit of paranoia.

"So… why should we been hidin' from them again?" Jerry seemed to have gathered his thoughts. Noelle was working on that herself.

"We need to find the other team members or anyone else who is running around the ship. Wolfgang and his goons are trying to kill the rest of us off, but I don't know why. His family's plan obviously failed. Why bother to keep it up? Why not escape and leave the rest of us to fend for ourselves on this alien ship?"

"But since you think these aliens might be friendly, why don't we ask them for help? You didn't answer why we should be runnin' away from 'em."

"I'm sorry," Noelle ran a hands down her face, "I'm so tired I can hardly think straight sometimes. They figured out that I escaped from the medical deck and they wanted to take me back there before I could have the chance to find people."

"They didn't believe you?"

"Not a word." Noelle said with mild amusement.

"Well, I kinda find the whole thing a little hard to swallow myself." Jerry chuckled lightly.

"We should keep moving. I'm sure they're looking for us and they're bound to come this way at some point." Noelle stepped slowly from the recessed area they had been hiding in and looked both ways down the hall to be sure the coast was clear.

"Alright, boss, what's the plan?" Jerry said with a smile.

"We need to find a way to communicate with the others." Noelle gestured for Jerry to follow her as they continued down the hall the opposite way from where they had come, "We also need a safe and secure meeting place. I had found a com-link that belonged to one of those aliens, but I left it in that bathroom…"

"Sorry I couldn't have given you more warning." Jerry looked only half serious. Explosives were not only his passion; they were also his source of humor.

"That's okay. I'm just happy you got me out of that jam in one piece." Noelle assured him.

"Well, any cowboy worth his silver spurs shouldn't feel he needs to ask permission before he saves a damsel in distress." He said this at first with humor, but then it quickly disappeared to a troubled frown.

"I hope you use that phrase 'damsel in distress' loosely." Noelle tried teasing him to lighten his mood. Jerry couldn't seem to pull off a convincing smile.

"So what happened in the theatre?" It hit Noelle that she didn't know what had gone on after she passed out.

"Well, we had gotten everyone 'cept some of the team members into the back room when those aliens started pourin' in. They had some wicked guns and fresh armor. Made ours look like _shit_."

"After a month without new ones it's not like they can blame us." Noelle snorted.

"Made me jealous though." Jerry winked at her. "Go that long without a new security suit and soon anything looks better." Noelle had to give that to him. The security guards like Jerry on the Ishimura took great pride in the efficiency and strength of their armor. Not being able to keep up with regular maintenance must have driven him crazy.

"So, where was I?" Jerry thought for a moment, exhaustion obviously having taken a toll on him as well, but he didn't seem happy when the memory was recovered, "Oh yeah… I saw ya go down when that big Slasher jumped ya, but I'd gotten cornered by a Leaper. It had me pinned to a wall. I shouted for someone to help ya, but I don't think anyone could hear me. Next thing I knew George had killed the Leaper and I tried to go to ya, but he grabbed me and shoved me to the back room. He shut me in with the others before I could do anything. You and him were the only two let outside when they locked the doors. I'd set explosives at the base of the stage rafters before all that happened, figurin' the doors might not hold if we had to hide there. I wouldn't detonate the charges since you were still out there and I kept telling the fella guarding the door to let me out, but he wouldn't hear it. I was about to slug him when Jared beat me to it. Knocked the guy flat on his ass. Well, the son of a bitch had snatched the control board to the fuses out of my hand as he went down. He detonated everything and sent two tons of metal down on the door and stage." Jerry paused for a moment and it looked like tears were threatening to spill over. He had stopped in the middle of the hall and turned towards Noelle completely.

"As soon as that man hit that button I just knew you were dead." Another tense pause, "Funny thing is, I never gave a thought to George. Maybe I'm heartless for that… or disloyal, but all I could do was stand there and the only thing I could think was 'Oh my Lord, she's gone…'"

"Sweetheart, I've seen a lot of things in my years. I've seen men lose the ones they love. I've seen women lose people too. But never in my thirty-seven year have I ever seen faces like the ones Merrilee and Jared had. You would have thought the entire world had just caved in. That little Brit started pounding on the doors and screaming your name like she could have reached you just like that. Jared was a whole nuther story. He got this real dark look to his eyes that gave me chills. I've never seen him like that ever. He always smiles. _Always_. But he snatched that guy up from the floor and had him pinned to the wall so fast it made my head swim. Started hollering at him- callin' him a murderer and a bastard- so loud that it hurt my ears. The people behind us started panicking because I think they thought Jared was gonna kill him."

"I don't think Jared would have done something like that." Noelle assured him, her voice quiet.

"Noelle, I don't _think_ he would have killed that man…" Jerry looked her dead in the eye and spoke matter-of-factly, "I _know_ he would have killed that man. He had him by the neck and the only thing that stopped him from throttling the guy was me. I had to drag him off the fella. I was able to hold him long enough till he calmed down and he eventually listened to me when I told him there was nothing we could do."

"So… they think I'm dead?" Noelle asked in horror.

"Most likely." Jerry said, his voice hollow. Suddenly he reached out and grabbed Noelle, pulling her into a tight hug. "I thought you were dead."

Noelle didn't hesitate in returning the hug, but looked up from the embrace to see tears falling down Jerry's cheeks. She only held him tighter as she realized she had thought him dead and gone as well.

"I feel awful." Jerry's voice shook and his chest heaved, "I just stood there and did nothing. You were out there and I didn't do anything."

"There was nothing you could do, Jerry." Noelle told him soothingly. She tried to comfort him in any way she could. It was obvious he felt racked with guilt, but the fault was absolutely not his. There really was no blame to assign; she had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"It's okay, Jerry," Noelle said softly, "There was nothing anyone could do. It was just bad luck."

"I should have done somethin'." Jerry buried his face on her shoulder. "I should have done somethin'."

"Stop it, Jerry" Noelle raised her voice a bit, "Don't do this to yourself. You said it yourself that nothing could've been done. What would you have done? Stood there and pounded in the doors in vain? I would have much rather seen everyone keep calm than throw fits over me." Jerry pulled his head up and looked at her. To her relief tears no longer streaked his face.

"You're a lot more important to us than you give yourself credit for, sweetheart." Jerry said with a warm smile. Noelle could only smile back in gratitude.

"Thanks, Lone Ranger." She patted him firmly on the shoulder after she gave him one last tight hug.

"Any time, sweetheart." Jerry let her go and they stood silent for a while, "Sorry I lost my cool there for a second. When you think someone's dead, but they show up anyway, it's like seeing a ghost. When I figured out you were real it just kinda hit me like a sack of lead."

"Don't worry about it." Noelle dismissed it with a wave of her hand, "Not like I've been the most emotionally stable person either. Rode an elevator and all of a sudden could have sworn there was a Slasher in there with me and I was back on the ship."

Jerry's face sobered, "You been haven' those hallucinations too?"

"Yeah…" Noelle stood mystified, "Wow, I'm not the only one. Thought I was finally just losing my marbles."

"I don't get it." Jerry explained, "Your uncle took the Marker down to the planet. Why are we just now having these hallucinations when others had them right when they unearthed the thing?"

"Have you seen Isaac!? Is he okay?" Noelle inwardly panicked. Where was her uncle? Was he alive? Was he on this ship?

"Sorry, I haven't seen him. I wish I had. He sure could think of something to get us out of this jam. But hey, you're just as smart as him and you're his niece. You'll get us out of this."

_God I hope so, _she thought. "We need to find him. _Soon_. But something's not right though. I'm sure he made it to the planet with that Marker. If this ship is even so close it's orbiting the planet we'd be too far away to feel it's affects." She greatly suspected Wolfgang and all the other Osiris followers on the ship had something to do with it, but for now she had no idea how.

"We should keep walking." Noelle gestured for Jerry to follow her, "All this standing around and talking is making me nervous."

"Sorry." Noelle couldn't help but feel guilty at Jerry's apologetic expression.

"Don't worry about it." She playfully punched him on the arm, "You needed to get all that off your chest. So what happened after that all that trouble in the back room? You guys obviously got out of there somehow."

"Well, that's where the story gets really interesting. We could hear guns going off for several minutes. Jared and Merrilee had given up by that point and were standing real quiet near the front. All of a sudden all the noise stopped and we could hear voices, but they were pretty dampened by the door. The talking got closer and closer until I could tell they were right in front of the pile of metal in front of the door. A few minutes later it sounded like bolt cutters and plasma saws started revving up. Those creatures must've started cutting and moving the rafters to get to the door. Everyone else figured that out pretty quickly too; almost started a full blown panic. Thankfully Jared and Merrilee stepped in and calmed everyone down. I was glad to see they weren't going crazy like I thought they were.

"Well, so it took them about half an hour to cut a path to the door. I was sure surprised they were that quick. Those things started tapping on the door and calling out for us to let them in." Jerry started chuckling a bit. "No one budged."

"Freaked the hell outta me that they spoke English." Jerry shook his head. "Made me wonder how they learned it and how much else they knew about us."

"How'd they get in?"

"They must have used something like a blow torch to break the bolts on the door. They were able to pry it open. It had been almost pitch black in that room so when those things came barging in they practically blinded us with those lights of theirs. I was so scared, but I just stood and waited to see what would happen. They came in all decked out in combat gear and kept telling everyone to keep calm, that they were there to help. I don't know what possessed everyone, but they started pulling weapons. That bastard Jared nearly strangled had a baton and swung at one of those aliens, but missed. Thankfully Jared stopped him before he could get another swing in and punch him square in the face. Knocked him out cold. I'd bet anything he wasn't too broken up about that."

They must have thought we were all gonna go after them, so they pulled their helmets down and tossed these little silver balls at our feet that started pumpin' gas into the room. I kinda lost my shit and kicked one away and it flew and clocked one of those aliens in the head." Jerry covered his mouth to suppress a laugh. "I'm sure they're not gonna exactly thank me for that. Must have been some kind of sedative since I saw people start to drop, but at the time I thought they were killing us. That was the last thing I remember."

"Jeez, what a night." Noelle let out a short sarcastic laugh, "I've had college memories tamer than that."

"You're not a' kiddin'." Jerry shook his head. "Woke up lyin' on a table with those things standing over me."

"How'd you escape?" Noelle's eye grew huge.

"I played dead until only one of them was standing there. It was this tiny little woman and she turned her back to get something. I hoped off the table, but she caught me and tried to grab me. That took some bravery. I felt so damn bad, but I had to wring her hand off me. Made a run for the door and never looked back."

"Well, I'm happy you're here."

"Me too." He put his hand up and Noelle and he bumped fists, "So what is this whole messy thing with Wolfgang-" Jerry stopped short, both in mid-sentence and mid-stride as he stared at something.

Noelle turned to look. Both gawked at a large blood stain smeared on the floor only a few feet in front of them that trailed farther down the hall until it rounded a corner out of sight. The stains were bright red; a sign they were fresh. Hand prints and boot treads were visible as well, telling Noelle there had been a struggle. It made her sick to her stomach. The whole scene reminded her too much of the hallways of the Ishimura. She only had to glance at Jerry and hold his gaze for a moment to know what they would do.

In unison the pair drew their plasma pistols and edged down the hall at a swift but quiet trot. Their steps were in such complete sync and they were back to communicating wordless, which put Noelle at great ease. It felt like when they had things _somewhat_ under control after the outbreak. They had been one unit, a team, but had lost each other the night before. Now she had at least one person back in her reach. That was what helped to give her the courage and the strength to turn the corner and face whatever monstrosity reared its ugly head.

Noelle pulled up short just before the edge of the wall. Jerry followed within a fraction of a second later. The team had learned through necessity to be completely in tune with one another. Without words, Noelle indicated with a series of waves and finger pointing with one hand that she wanted to go in first and have Jerry follow in behind her as cover. Jerry nodded in agreement and understanding.

Noelle counted down from three visually with her fingers. Once she made a fist, the duo charged the corner. Like a well-oiled machine they scoped the area with their guns drawn. Eyes following the trail of blood on the floor, Noelle came across the source which rattled her like an earthquake. There, sitting about ten yards away leaning up against the wall drenched in blood, was a man. Seeing as no one else seemed to be around, but still cautious knowing the scene was fresh, Noelle moved closer. Something was smeared on the wall above the man in red, but she needed to get closer to make any sense of it. What she didn't need to get closer to know was that the man was dead. Brain matter littered the wall and floor having clearly exited from a gaping hole in the man's skull near the back. The entry wound was on his temple. His stomach was split open with his intestines sitting in his lap in a grotesque heap. The mouth was open, overflowing with blood, as if the man bemoaned his condition loudly. But to Noelle, the most eerie aspect of all was the man's eyes. The victim still had them open; two blue orbs staring into the space above them, yet seeing nothing. Noelle couldn't help but feel that at any moment the eyes would blink, the man would look over, and then ask them why they were standing there staring at him.

"God almighty…" Jerry breathed near Noelle head. He was standing right next to her, which almost made her flinch since she had been so fixated on the scene before her. She was completely speechless as she tried to comprehend what she was seeing.

_Why this man? Why a human and not the aliens on the ship? _A million questions took a ride on an out of control merry-go-round in Noelle's head until she could make sense of them. After she had a few seconds to think things through, she had a condensed question.

"What happened?" Her voice was nothing more than a weak whisper.

"I have no idea." Jerry answered just as quietly a few seconds later. His delayed response told her he was as disturbed as she was.

Seeing no other choice, Noelle crept closer. The nearer she got, the better she could see the horror before her. Soon it became clear that the smears above the man were words and not in any kind of ink. The message "For the White Queen" was scrawled thickly in the man's own blood upon the wall.

"The White Queen?" Jerry looked over at Noelle with utter confusion on his face, unaware of how she was handling it.

To Noelle, it felt like she had just been yanked into cold water suddenly and kicked in the gut with enough force to knock the wind clean from her lungs. She might as well have been underwater. Every time she tried to inhale she was unable to.

Noelle? Are you okay?" Jerry put a hand on her shoulder and shook her hard, "Please look at me."

"Me." She said, still staring at the macabre words on the wall.

"What?" Jerry said more quietly, try to hear her clearly.

"Me." She repeated. "This is for me." She was talking more to herself than to Jerry. The realization that others were caught in the crosshairs that Wolfgang was trying to focus on her was sinking in, leaving her feeling empty. The fact that there was little she could do about it until she had her team together and had the crew under their protection added the cherry on top of the helpless feeling trying to make itself comfortable in her mind.

"Noelle, you're not making any sense." She finally turned to look at Jerry as he spoke. She could see the concern on his face. He looked like he was expecting her to have a meltdown of some sort.

"Wolfgang and his soldiers left this as a message for me."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Damn, I know, I really kinda revved up the gore on this one, huh? I felt that since this is a Dead Space fanfiction I need to stick to its roots and keep it bloody and scary. I don't know if you guys find this story scary or not (no one's said so), but I hope you've all liked the plot and the direction it's been going in. Please leave some reviews. It motivates me to keep writing and basically makes my day in general. Seriously, I squeal and spazz like an idiot when I get an email that says someone reviewed this. I think my roommate may be concerned. :B Anywho, happy reading!


	16. Update

**So… yes I've been gone for a long time. I'm so sorry! I've been ridiculously busy with college and other things. I was having some health issues at the beginning of last semester so my free time has been sapped for a while.**

**I'm stunned by the recent number of people that are favoriting this story. I figured I should start working on the next chapter since you guys seemed to have renewed interest in this story. If you guys could give me some reviews, that would be wonderful. I need to know what you're liking about my writing and what you don't. Remember, reviews really spur me as a writer.**

**Happy reading my little minions!**


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